The Gathering Night
by May Chang
Summary: An insane goddess is awakening to bring a world to its knees. An old god is awakening to stop her.
1. Prologue

Title: The Gathering Night  
Author: May Chang  
Genre: AU(fantasy)  
Pairings: past Gambit x Storm  
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.

Author's Note: I have no idea what I'm doing with this fic, only that it's experimental and will feature an assortment of characters. Warnings/genres and pairings will be updated as the fic goes on because to be honest, I don't even know where it's going.

* * *

**Prologue **

* * *

_In the beginning there was only darkness. Then the Phoenix Queen and the Storm Goddess came, lighting the heavens with fire and lightening. The Phoenix Queen threw fire into the sky and the Sun was born. She threw a bolt before her and Gaia the earth was born. The Storm Goddess looked at Gaia and, plucking some hair from her head, she laid them down unto Gaia and created rivers. She blew on Gaia and the wind came. She raked her fingers through the earth and trees appeared. _

_The Phoenix Queen then dropped little flames onto the earth and both men and animals appeared. They smiled in delight at the sight and went down to join them. _

_With the light though came the darkness and the Dark God rose from the shadows. With him, he brought his demons and death to Gaia and to the people. He fought with the Phoenix Queen who thought the Dark God evil to herself and to Gaia. It was the Storm Goddess who came between them and spoke, "He is our brother for there must be a balance for everything. Accept him, my sister, for he is like us." The Dark God and the Phoenix Queen put away their swords and embraced one another as brother and sister, and peace came to the land again._

- The Book of Rain

-  
- 

It was pure irony, the Dark God thought, as he watched Her followers raze the country-side. She was suppose to be one of the good gods, the one who cared for all living beings. He was suppose to be the one who killed them. Now as he looked over the battlefields, he couldn't help but wonder what had changed Her.

His love was terribly upset by what the Queen had done. The Dark God had no desire to cross the Queen himself; Her followers were great warriors and his thieves, assassin, even his demons, would not be able to go up against those who wielded both blade and Her fire. As the Dark Lord watched from where he stood, the sky darkened and rain began to fell.

His love, the Storm Goddess, was crying.

Raising his head up to the rain, the Dark God known as Death closed his eyes and stood there, feeling the rain fall on him. He didn't know how long he stood there before he heard footsteps behind him.

"Frightening, isn't it?" a voice said quietly. He opened his eyes and looked to his side. The Gray Lord stood beside him, looking out at the battlefield.

"I didn't think I'd be seeing you, Magnus," he replied before he shifted his attention back to the battlefield as well.

"You know me," Magnus replied with a slight shrug. "The most interesting thing about this is the fact that Her fighters are better than both of ours combined."

"Perhaps," the other replied. There was silence between the two.

"This shouldn't have happened," Magnus said after a while.

"No, it shouldn't have," the other agreed.

"Have you talked to our Storm Goddess?"

"She'll talk to you," he replied quietly. "She has no desire to talk to me."

"Hm." There was silence again and the battle raged on.

* * *

They stood outside her temple in the rain, waiting for her come down. She was standing at the very top of her temple, her head thrown back, her mouth opened in a silent scream as thunder and lightening rocked both the earth and heaven. 

She was absolutely beautiful.

Magnus stood by him, watching her as well. He held a blank expression yet inside he understood her pain as he watched her and the sky scream and thunder. It was still raining when she finally flew down before them, soaking wet but standing proud.

"Magnus. Death," she greeted. She glances at him before she turns her attention to the Gray Lord. Magnus frowns slightly, the only evidence of his surprise that she truly had no desire to talk to the other.

"Ororo," Magnus replied with a nod.

"She must be stopped," she declared, arms crossing.

"Yes, She must," he agreed. Death stood there silently, studying her.

"Come," she said, turning to the gates. "I suppose we should plan for battle."

The temple was warm and Death couldn't help but welcome it. It reminded him of his time with his love before she turned away from him. He should have felt bitter about it, but he understood her reason for walking away.

They spent days, listening to his thieves, Magnus's sorcerers, Ororo's storm-riders, of information of Her warriors. They spent days working on a strategy on stopping her. They would be able to tire out Her warriors quickly, Death silently taking out companies in the night with his assassins and demons, while Magnus and Ororo would continued to hammer at Her forces in the day.

The strategy worked. In fact, the strategy worked too well. Tired, Her forces called for Her aid and She responded. They stood before Her, watching as She laughed in their faces.

"You cannot stop me!" She declared. Her eyes burned orange, and both Her red hair and red dress seemed to come alive like fire. "I am the Phoenix! None of you have the power to kill me!"

"Perhaps not," Magnus replied quietly, "but together we can stop you for now."

She laughed a cold laugh, one that sent shivers down Death's spine and, for the first time in his life, he felt fear. Looking at his love one last time, he nodded to her a farewell. She bowed her head before they looked at the Phoenix Queen and the three struck.

* * *

She survived the battle and so did Magnus. Death wasn't as fortunate. As he laid there, his head in her lap, she couldn't help but run her hand gently through his bloody white hair. Magnus looks down at them, sympathy in his eyes before he turns to the fallen Phoenix Queen. The Dark God's blood-red eyes fluttered opened slightly and a smile crossed his lips. 

"Did we...?"

"We have stopped Her for the time," she replied with a shaky smile. "Magnus is sealing her away as we speak."

"Ah... That... is good...," he whispered. "I'm so... tired..."

"It was a good battle," she said. "Rest, my friend. Another day comes."

"Friend...," he breathed. "I... like that."

He smiles one last time to her before he closes his eyes. He never feels her tears falling onto his face nor does he feel the sunlight of a new dawn shine upon him.

-  
-

_They struck down the Phoenix Queen but could not kill her for she was the one who created life. Before she fell the Phoenix Queen tried to destroy her twin the Storm Goddess so that mortals would never have rain again. Death though stepped before his sister and disappeared in a blaze of fire. _

_The Gray Lord and the Storm Goddess sealed away the Phoenix Queen before she could awake again. Then the Storm Goddess proclaimed to the people, "Let the day be remember to all! Let us all honor those who have passed on this day and forever!"_

- The Book of Rain


	2. Chapter One

Title: The Gathering Night  
Author: May Chang  
Genre: action, AU(fantasy)  
Pairings: past Gambit x Storm  
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.

* * *

**Chapter One

* * *

**_Our god may be dead and gone, but his legacy lives on._

- Henri LeBeau, Father of the Dark Guild

-  
-

Quietly making his way through the building, he couldn't help but smile to himself at the sight of gold plates and candle-holders lining the table. Opening his sack, he slipped the gold objects in, making sure that not sound came. As he closed the bag, he tilted his head up, listening for any footsteps. When no noise came, he quickly made his way down towards the main gates.

It only took him ten minutes to empty the place of all its gold, silver and jewels. Nobles should really think of not putting their valuables in the open, or at the very least have their guards be more alert. Shaking his head, Remy slipped into the shadows of the gate, waiting for the two guards to move. He didn't have to wait long.

"Alms? Alms?" came a low whine. The sound of a staff tapping the ground reached Remy's ears and he glanced towards the guards to see a beggar walking towards the guards, a small wooden bowl in his left and a staff in his right. "Alms? Alms for the poor?"

"Get out of here," one of the guards growled. The beggar stopped, raising his head to look around. The blind-fold over his eyes revealed him to be blind.

"Sir? Please?" he whined. The guard who had growled at him stepped forward, a hand reaching towards the blade by his side. Remy tensed, ready to move but the other guard stopped him. Using the distraction, he slipped up behind them.

"He's just a blind beggar," the second guard said to the first. "No need to use force."

"Yeah, yeah," the first guard growled. By then Remy had slid by them and into the shadows, waiting for them to stop talking.

"Here," the second guard said, dropping some coins into the beggar's bowl. "Now be off. It's too late out here to be begging."

"Bless you, kind sir," the beggar said. "Bless you." He slowly moved away from the guards, tapping the ground with his staff and into the shadows next to Remy. Remy quietly began to walk by the beggar, glancing back to make sure that the guards didn't notice them before he looked at his companion.

"They're not looking?" the beggar asked, his voice no longer a whine.

"Nope," Remy replied.

"Thank the Gray Lord," he muttered, straightening up and handing the bowl over to Remy. He pulled back his hood to reveal short brown hair and a boyish face. "Being hunched-over is killing my back. How was the place?"

"Rich," Remy said, grinning. "Maybe next time I should bring Alex along. The Dark God knows, these rich people are too stupid to leave such things about, Scott." The other laughed quietly in response as they continued home. Remy glanced into the bowl as they approached a temple to the Storm Goddess, seeing about five coppers in the bowl. Scott just stopped in front of the temple.

"Go ahead," Scott said. Remy gave him a sheepish look.

"It's late," Remy replied awkwardly. "Us going into the temple would make the priests all suspicious and all. Besides, Alex would be wondering about us."

"I doubt it," the other said with a smile. "Come on, Remy. Lead the way." Remy couldn't help but smile before he handed the bowl over to Scott and took his arm. They walked into the Storm Goddess's temple and Remy couldn't help but feel at peace.

Sometime he wondered about the sense of serenity he felt whenever he came here. None of the other three gods seemed to have made an impact on him, not even the Dark God, the patron of thieves. Leaving Scott by the entrance with the small sack, Remy pocketed the coins in the bowl before Scott slipped it into his tunic then made his way to the Storm Goddess's altar. He knelt down before it, bowed his head and said a prayer to her before he got up and slipped the few coins into the donation box. Scott was still there at the entrance, waiting for him.

"You know, you're the only thief in the city who worships her more than the Dark God," Scott said, sounding a bit amused. Remy just shrugged as he led Scott out of the temple. They then began to make their way home for the night.

Alex was dozing at the table when the two finally arrived. Remy shook his head as he let go of Scott's arm and placed the sack onto the table. The thud it made roused Alex who blinked sleepily at him and Scott.

"Oh, hey," he said, rubbing his eyes. "How was it?"

"Easy as hell," Remy replied. Scott just pulled off his cloak and hung it up before shuffling over to his seat. Remy couldn't help but admire the fact that Scott had the room practically memorized without ever having seen the room. He then looked back at Alex with a smile. "Next time you should come with us, little brother." Alex's face lit up in response and Remy couldn't help but reach over and ruffle his hair. Scott just sat back and grinned. Taking his own seat, Remy and Alex began pulling out the loot, separating coins, jewelry and other valuables. The three brothers quietly joked with one another, planning what items to sell to whom and what to buy with the coins they had.

Remy was the oldest of the three at the age of twenty-three. Scott was the middle child of nineteen years while Alex was sixteen, going on to seventeen in a month. Out of the three, both Remy and Scott were sorcerers, mortal humans blessed with powers from the gods. Remy had the power to blow objects up with his hands while Scott did the same with his eyes. Unfortunately for Scott, his eyes continued to destroy so he kept his eyes closed to the world. They weren't sure why.

"That's it," Alex announced when they finished separating. "Scott, you and me are going over to Porters and Missy tomorrow and Remy's heading over to Moussier."

"Sounds good," Scott said with a yawn. "Gods, I'm tired."

"Go to bed then," Remy said. He looked at Alex. "You too. I'll put the stuff away." Alex looked like he wanted to protest, but he nodded. Scott got up and shuffled out of the room, Alex behind him. Remy took the opportunity to hide the loot in their hiding place before checking the locks on the door and windows.

Honor among thieves didn't extend to not stealing other's hard-earned loot.

* * *

They walked together through the market, hoods up to hide their faces. The shorter of the two glanced warily about, as though he was expecting to be attacked at any given time. The other just strode forward with an aura of confidence, leading her companion to the bar. Stepping into the bar, she looked around before she focused onto a lone figure sitting in a corner. Smiling she walked towards him, followed by the other and stopped by the figure who looked up from his tankard. 

"Been a long time, Erik," she began, pulling the hood back. She gave the man a good-natured smile as she flicked a strand of red hair away from her face.

"That it has, Raven," Erik replied, gesturing to the empty seats. She took a seat and her companion took the other, pulling his hood off as well. "And how are you, Logan?"

"Fine," the man replied. A waitress approached them and both Raven and Logan gave their orders to her before she scurried off. Logan leaned back, eyeing Erik with something akin to suspicion. "What are we doin' here?"

"I need information," Erik replied. "Something's going on in the west and Charles is a bit concerned with it."

"The west?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow. The waitress arrived at the moment with two more tankards, placing them both before Raven and Logan.

"Two each," she said. Erik handed over six pieces of copper to the waitress who pocketed two of the coppers and left.

"Zealots," Erik said, a look of annoyance crossing his face. "Apparently some new prophet of the Phoenix Queen has come to preach about conquest and her coming."

"Again?" Raven groaned. Logan just snorted and picked up his tankard.

"Again," Erik said with a sigh, rubbing his forehead in a sign of aggravation. "I don't know why they keep doing this, but pretty soon they will have a war on their hands."

"Chuck won't fight," Logan said.

"No he won't," Erik agreed, "but Emma and I will."

--------------------

Sorcerers were almost as funny as humans, Erik mused as he left the bar after Raven and Wolverine. While they had powers beyond humans, they still had the same weaknesses as humans: feelings. This weakness was probably the reason that drew Ororo to all mortals with a sense of compassion.

This weakness was also probably the reason that drew Magnus towards the mortal realm in the guise of Erik. Ororo had been quite amused when she found out.

Walking through the marketplace, Magnus took in the sound of life, his eyes looking about at the busy humans. There weren't many sorcerers in this world ever since the Cleansing and, while he had been sore about it, Magnus knew the whole situation had been entirely his fault.

And he thought the sin of pride was only a human trait.

Still, as he walked through the people, he could sense which of them had that spark that marked them as different. Many of them would never awaken that power and Magnus felt a surge of bitterness at that.

Something caught his eyes, causing Magnus to stop and turn to find three young men walking out of a pawn shop. The first was a blond and Magnus could see the blue spark within him. The blue flame seemed to burn brighter and Magnus felt a little joyful at the thought of another sorcerer about to come into the world. Behind him came a brunet with a blindfold and a bright red fire that let Magnus know that that one's powers had awakened. The blindfold puzzled Magnus for a moment, unsure if that awakened power had anything to do with the young man's blindness. It was then a red-head appeared and everything seemed to stop for Magnus.

Obviously the oldest of the three, he had a handsome face with strange eyes - red upon black - and he walked with a confidence that reminded Magnus of Emma and Charles. The power the man had though was powerful, a purple fire that burned within. It was the blackness that would appear at times within the flames that caught Magnus's interest.

Sorcerers and would-be sorcerers usually had colorful sparks and fire that showed their powers. Raven had a dark-blue fire, Logan was yellow and both Charles and Emma's were white. Black flames were practically unheard of in sorcerers and, to be honest, Magnus hadn't seen that darkness in a long time. Curious Magnus decided to follow the three. Perhaps he would be able to use them in the future.

--------------------

"Someone's following us," Scott said quietly. "I can hear their footsteps."

"And people think blind people can't do anything," Alex muttered. "Alley coming up to the right."

"You know what to do," Scott said. There was wordless agreement from the other two and the three turned into the alley. Remy bent down and picked up a few stones along the way before they all stopped and turned to see. Three huge thugs stopped before them and Remy groaned. Alex moved to get before Scott, a small knife drawn as he warily looked at them.

"I hear you just got paid for your job," one of the thugs said. "You know the drill, ten golds for a job."

"Bull shit!" Alex cursed at them. "Just because you guys couldn't get into that nobles place doesn't mean you can scare us!" All three thugs started towards them menacingly.

Magnus stood on top of the building, looking down at the group. He watched in amusement as the blond ducked and a flash of red light came from the brunet to throw one of the thugs back.

_And that is the reason of his blindness_, Magnus though, shaking his head in pity. The redhead then threw some rocks at the other two thugs and each of the stones exploded in a loud explosion, causing the goons to stumble back. It gave the brunet the opportunity to blast another one of them away. The leader growled and charged towards them. Both Remy and Alex dodged the charge, but Scott wasn't as fortunate, getting plowed into the wall behind him.

"Scott!" Remy cried out before a fist hit him in the stomach. "Fuck!"

"Remy!" Alex cried out and Magnus's eyes widened at the blue spark within the blond suddenly brightened, and the leader and the walls of the building were destroyed. Remy turned to see the destruction, surprise on his face while Scott slowly got up.

"Oh shit," Alex mumbled, staring with wide-eyes at the destruction before him. "Oh shit, oh shit, _oh shit_."

"No time for that now, Alex," Scott said as he slowly walked forward. Remy moved to him and took his hand. "We have to get out of here before the guards come."

"Demons and sin, I didn't think we'd _all _be sorcerers," Alex said as he helped Remy with Scott.

"Neither did I," Scott said as they walked out of the alley. "Let's get out of here."

Magnus watched as the three stumbled away, a thoughtful look on his face. They were powerful, he was sure of that. Now even more curious Magnus followed them.

* * *

Remy was thankful that no one saw them when they escaped. He wasn't sure if the thug Alex had blasted was dead or alive. What he was sure about was that the other two thugs would probably be pointing the guards in their direction. 

"We need to get out of the city," Remy said as he opened the door and let Scott and Alex in first. He glanced about before stepping in and bolting the door behind him. "Those thugs will be pointing the guards right at us."

"I know," Scott said. "Damn it, I didn't expect this to happen."

"Well, sorry!" Alex burst out. "I didn't mean to suddenly blow up a building!"

"Don't worry about that," Scott said. "Right now, we just need to get our stuff and get the hell out of here."

"Maybe they won't tell?" Alex asked, his voice hopeful. Remy snorted as he moved into their room, pulled out a bag and began to stuff clothes in. There was a knock on the door and all three of them froze. Remy moved to the doorway and look at the other two, watching as Scott got up and shuffled over to the door.

"Who's there?" he asked.

"Someone who can help you," was the reply.

"Help us? With what?" Scott asked tightly.

"With getting away from the guards," the other said. "Who, I might add, have just been informed by one of those goons about you three."

"Demons and sin!" Alex swore. Remy couldn't help but glance back into the room, wondering just how much stuff they could bring with them and how much time before the guards arrived.

"Are you going to let me in or not?" the stranger asked, bringing his attention back to Scott and Alex. "People might start to question as to why I'm talking to you from out here." Scott's lips tightened, thinking for a second before he unbolted the door and opened it. An older man stepped in, silver hair that stopped a couple of inches above his shoulders. He wore fine clothing that showed that he was well off, and had an aura that spoke of some noble heritage.

"Who are you?" Remy asked, fingering his knives. He could see Alex's hand on the hilt of his blade.

"I am Erik Maximoff," the man replied, "and I've come to offer you my help."

"Why?" Scott asked, taking two steps back. Erik looked at him before glancing at the others.

"Because I believe in protecting other sorcerers from humans," he replied.

"We're not sorcerers," Alex said. Erik gave him an amused look.

"I just watched you blast a building into pieces," Erik said. "I've also seen this one shoot red flames from his eyes and the others blow up rocks. I'm pretty sure that you three are all sorcerers and it's my job to protect all sorcerers."

"You're a follower of the Gray Lord," Remy said. "I'm not following anyone who follows him." Alex gave Remy a surprised look while Erik just frowned.

"Who cares about that right now," Scott said. "What's the catch?"

"I'm sorry?" Erik asked.

"The catch. There's no way you'd help us three for free."

"All I ask is that you help two of my friends," Erik said. "Of course, that would mean that you all will have to be separated."

"No way," Alex replied, shaking his head. "No way am I leaving my brothers."

"Then you'll all be caught," Erik said.

"He's right," Remy added. Scott was frowning and Remy could tell that he was thinking. Alex just shook his head and Remy wanted to sigh.

"What's your offer?" Scott asked quietly.

"You claim sanctuary under Lord Xavier and Lady Frost," Erik said easily.

"Nobles," Alex muttered under his breath, "and most likely Gray Lord followers."

"Actually Lord Xavier follows the Storm Goddess," Erik replied.

"I won't go," Remy suddenly said.

"What?" Alex and Scott chorused together while Erik raised an eyebrow.

"That'd be too suspicious, all three of us claiming sanctuary," Remy said. "Call me paranoid, but I won't risk Scott and Alex."

"And what are you going to do?" Erik asked.

"What I do best: procuring items," Remy said airily. Scott snorted in response while Alex rolled his eyes. Erik just looked amused. "Look, I'm the only one here who really has a chance out there and you know it."

"I know," Scott replied quietly. He was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "We better get going then, Erik, if we want to beat the guards."

-  
-

_Life is a strange thing, my son. Sometimes it is easy to see where to go and what to do. Most of the time though, you have to walk down an unknown path because usually that one path may be the way to destiny._

- Magnus Lehnsherr, "The Wanderer"


	3. Chapter Two

Title: The Gathering Night  
Author: May Chang  
Warnings: slash, action, AU (fantasy)  
Pairings: Havok x Polaris, Iceman + Northstar, one-sided Gambit + Storm  
Disclaimers: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.  
Author's Note: I've decided that there will be some very minor slash in this fic, as seen in the pairing section. I blame all the Northstar/Iceman fics I've been reading lately, but like I said, it's going to be pretty minor. Another note is the differences in the team. The original team had Angel in it, but I decided to go in another direction, especially since I've made Mystique into a heroine.

**

* * *

Chapter Two

* * *

**

_We are all brothers and sisters for we were created from the same fire of the Phoenix Queen. What changed Her to create such chaos on Her once ordered world we will never know, but I do believe that we, Her children, will be able to contain Her chaos and restore Her order so that peace will be known again on Gaia._

- Charles Xavier, "For Peace on Gaia"

-  
-

Lord Charles Xavier was a scholar of ancient history and philosophy as well as a renowned healer for both body and soul. He was also a powerful sorcerer from what Scott could find out, one whose magic cause either good or evil to another's mind, but chose to not use that power for ill. Xavier's home, a huge mansion, was surprisingly a home for young sorcerers, both who had family and those who were orphaned. He schooled all the children in both an education and how to use their powers. Lady Emma Frost was the daughter of a wealthy merchant and was a ruthless businesswoman, much like her sire. She helped Xavier create the school and also taught the children. She was also the same age as Scott, but he felt that she probably felt a lot older than him. She too had the ability to work with the mind, but unlike Xavier, Emma was more than willing to use her powers. The only other difference between the two was the fact that Xavier was a follower of the Storm Goddess and Emma worshipped no gods.

The world was red when Scott opened his eyes for the first time in twelve years. The visor that Xavier had given him stopped him from shooting anyone with the red flames from his eyes, but it also let him see only in shades of red. It was a small price to pay for sight. As he explored the school with Alex, he met other sorcerers, some the same age as him, a few standing out to him.

Piotr Rasputin was the son of a farmer and had the ability to turn into metal, as well as a love or art. There was also Robert Drake, a mischievous youngster with the power to create ice; Hank McCoy, a huge, blue-furred scholar with an amicable personality; Kurt Wagner, an elf-like creature with dark-blue skin, who can teleport almost anywhere; and Kurt's half-sister Rogue, a red-head with a streak of white and unable to touch anyone.

Strange people, but oddly enough Scott felt comfortable.

Alex chose to work with Emma instead of Xavier, feeling more comfortable in being in a more active role than passive. Scott had a sneaking suspicion that there was also the fact that one of Emma's girls, a green-hair teenager, seemed to have caught Alex's eyes.

Erik was also a scholar who taught alongside Xavier. Unfortunately that was all that Scott and Alex could find out. Apparently Erik traveled the world most of the times, but would come back to help Xavier and Emma in teaching. What his powers were was still a mystery and Scott couldn't feel a little put out at not knowing what it was.

At times though, Scott wondered how Remy was doing. Since Erik had taken him and Alex to Xavier's Institute for the Gifted, he hadn't heard anything from Remy, and frankly, he missed Remy terribly. Alex also missed Remy when they sat together for breakfast, talking about dreams and the past. After a month, they talked about Remy ever other day; a year later, once a month.

Ten years later, Remy was just a passing thought.

* * *

There was a strange man in her temple. The priestess paused in her walk to watch the man praying to the altar to the Storm Goddess. She wasn't sure if he was one of their followers, but she definitely knew that she'd never seen him before until tonight. 

"I am sorry for intruding at this hour of the night," the man suddenly said. He stood up and turned to face the priestess. She wanted to scowl at the fact that his face was covered in shadows from his hood but chose to nod at him instead.

"It is alright," she said. "Our temple is always open."

"Not a good idea," he replied and she could swear that he was smiling at him. "You never know when thieves decide to take a chance and raid the place. You are quite trusting of people to do that."

"I'm not very trusting at all," she said. "I could call the guards right now and have them take you away."

"True, but by the time they get here, I'll be gone," he replied. The priestess could practically _see_ the cheeky grin he had in the shadows and she couldn't help but smile back. "I don't suppose we have time for an introduction before you call the guards on me?"

"I am Storm," the priestess said after a moment.

"Fitting name," the man said thoughtfully, "but I'm betting that's not your real name. That's okay, you may call me Gambit."

"I'm betting that's not your name either," Storm said, smiling at the man. Gambit just grinned and gave her a mock-bow. "I find it strange to see a thief such as yourself in the temple of the Storm Goddess."

"I like being mysterious that way," he said with a shrug. "Ah, but I am taking away time that can be spent on sleep. My apologies, Stormy."

"Don't call me that," she replied automatically then for no reason blushed. Gambit just grinned and before her eyes, he was suddenly climbing up the walls and disappeared through the window. Surprised Storm took flight and up to the window, looking for the thief. There were no signs of him except for a card on the window ledge.

_The Ace of Spades_, she thought as she picked up the card. _An interesting calling card, young Gambit._ Smiling in amusement, she tucked the card away and looked around the room, noting that nothing had been stolen before she flew out the window and away. She knew that he was a sorcerer, the purple flames burning brightly within him, although the bits of black fire concerned her a bit. She shook her head, annoyed at the concern. The night was still young for her after all and she always did love to fly with the wind. Laughing quietly at her meeting, she shed the image of the priestess of the temple and rode the winds as the Storm Goddess.

--------------------

It had been an interesting meeting to say the least for Remy. He hadn't expected to actually meet a follower of the Storm Goddess so late at night, but there was always a first time for everything. He didn't mind getting caught by Storm though; if he was to get caught by women who were that gorgeous in life, he'd die a happy man.

The temple had changed a bit since the last time he'd come, more foliage and flora about as well as more guards. Remy suppose that it would have changed after ten years and, as he walked down the streets of the city, he knew how much had changed. It made him wonder how Alex and Scott were doing and if they'd actually still remember they had an older brother.

_I'll just pop in, say hi and get out_, Remy thought to himself. _No need to bring trouble to them._

With that settled, he made his way towards the inn. A decent night of sleep and a decision of just how he was going to make a visit for tomorrow were needed.

* * *

"Magnus! It has been a while," Xavier greeted enthusiastically. "Come in, come in! The children will be most pleased to see you!" 

"Children?" Magnus replied, lifting an eyebrow. "If memory serves, the oldest child here is thirty."

"Of course, but compared to us..." Magnus laughed and Charles smiled as he turned and walked with Magnus down the halls. "Scott is most anxious to have a game of chess with you, and Bobby would very much like to hear of your travels."

"He should go traveling with you one day, Magnus," another voice joined in. Xavier and Magnus both turned to see Emma approaching them, an amused look on her face. "That way I and the rest of my Hellions won't have to put up with his pouting. Hello Magnus. It is good to see you again."

"Emma, looking as beautiful as ever," Magnus replied with a nod. The three continued down the hall towards Xavier's study.

"Raven and Logan are here," she said, her smile gone in an instant and a very serious look on her face. "This new Speaker of the Phoenix has been riling up Her followers. I wouldn't be surprised if they begin to have crusades in Her name in the next month or so."

"Really," Magnus replied flatly. "Perhaps we should get rid of her as soon as possible." Xavier frowned at the suggestion while Emma nodded.

"I think Fury is on it," she said. "It's been difficult though. Raven has said that the Speaker has surrounded herself with many bodyguards and assassinations have failed numerous times. Even she doesn't think she'd be able to do the assassination."

"Now that's frightening," Xavier mused. "An assassination Raven cannot do. Those bodyguards must be extraordinary great fighters." They finally reached Xavier's study and the man opened the door. Raven and Logan both turned as Magnus, Xavier and Emma all entered the room, Xavier closing the door behind him.

"Erik," Raven said, crossing her arms. Erik noted that she was in her normal form: blue-skin, red hair, yellow eyes and dressed in white sleeveless dress with white gloves and boots. Logan looked just as rough as usual.

"Raven. Logan," Magnus greeted. Xavier took the opportunity to sit down at his desk, signaling for the others to take a seat. Raven and Emma both took a seat while Magnus and Logan remained standing.

"You hear about the Speaker and her guards?" Logan asked.

"That they are quite good and even Raven wouldn't be able to defeat them? Yes, I have," Magnus said.

"That's ain't all," Logan said. "Apparently she's got some sorcerers with her, notably a pair of twins who have super-speed and make lightshows. The Speaker also seems to be able to screw with people's heads, like Emma and Chuck."

"No wonder she seems to have such influence on those followers," Emma mused.

"There have also been reports on a Dark God faction as well," Raven said. "Unlike the thieves and assassins that we're use to, this faction has been burning and pillaging villages to the south. They say that their god is returning and death will come to the weak."

"That sounds amazingly like what the Speaker is preaching," Magnus said.

"Unfortunately," Raven said. "What I can find out though is that this faction has absolutely no love for the Phoenix Queen's followers. Then again, they also hold no love for the Gray Lord's people or the Storm Goddess's people."

"Barbarians," Emma said with a tone of disgust.

"Will your X-Men and Hellions be ready to fight?" Magnus asked, looking at Emma and Xavier.

"I know my Hellions are ready," Emma replied with a nod.

"Of course," Xavier said, a resigned look on his face. Magnus glanced over at Raven, noting a flash of worry that crossed her face before settling back to a look of disdain.

"Good," Magnus said. "I suppose that there is nothing more to say?"

"Not that I can think of," Logan replied. Raven shook her head. "Alright. Now I'd like to go to my room for a bit and work up enough energy to take on Bobby."

* * *

Getting into the Xavier's Institute for the Gifted was ridiculously easy. The guards were alert, that was true, but they were only alert to what was around them. Scaling the walls and getting inside through the windows was just way too easy for Remy. Shaking his head in amusement, Remy closed the window and quietly made his way through the halls and in the shadows. 

The place was incredible, from the sheer size of the place to the valuables that were strewn all over the place. Just the idea of raiding the place was enough to make Remy feel happy, except it would most likely make Alex and Scott ready to murder him. Sighing mournfully in his mind, Remy continued on until he reached the third floor. Pulling out a map, he scanned it to see that Scott's room is the third door to the right at the end of the hallway and Alex was right across from him.

Smiling Remy walked down the hallway, half an ear alert for anybody before stopping between the two doors. He crossed his arms, a frown on his face as he tried to figure out who he wanted to visit first before he heard a giggle come from Alex's room.

_Right, Scott it is._ Remy knocked on the door lightly and frowned when he realized that Scott wasn't in. He didn't really want to bother Alex since he was apparently entertaining someone at the moment and he didn't want to sit in Scott's room until he returned. Remy sighed, feeling depressed for a moment before he brightened up again.

The Institute, after all, had to have other items other than gold to steal. Grinning cheerfully, Remy left the residence and went on his merry way to explore the Institute for valuables and fun.

--------------------

"Someone's here," Xavier suddenly said, a frown crossing his face. Magnus and Scott both looked up from their game of chess at Xavier, who was currently seated by the fireplace with a book in hand.

"Professor?" Scott asked, looking rather concerned. "How odd," Xavier said to himself.

"I can't seem to read him, but I know he's here."

"Should I call for the others?" Scott asked, standing up from his seat.

"No," Xavier said after a moment. "He means no harm. In fact, it would seem that he is looking for you, Scott."

"Me?"

"He's approaching the kitchen, Scott. I think you should go meet with him."

--------------------

The amount of food in the kitchen was amazing. Remy couldn't help but look around in awe, having never seen this much food in his life. Picking up an apple, he wandered through the kitchen, glancing out the windows as he passed before he started towards another set of doors. Said door suddenly opened and Remy came face to face with a young man short brown hair.

"What the--?" a young man blurted out in surprise.

"Is something wrong, Bobby?" a female voice asked and a young woman with brown hair appeared. "Hey! How the hell did you get in here?"

"The door was unlocked," Remy replied dryly, gesturing to the door he had entered. The two looked over at the door before at each other and then glared at him. Remy raised both hands, one still holding the apple, with an innocent expression on his face. "Hey, I did nothing wrong. It is not my fault that the guards don't seem to realize that one has to look up once in a while."

The other door opened and three other people entered. Remy turned his slightly to see who else had arrived, blinking in surprised when he recognized Erik. The other two, one about the same age as Erik, was completely bald while the other was a young man with short brown hair and a funny looking thing over his eyes. Remy frowned before he realized with a smile who the young man was.

"Scott! Gods above, it's great to see you again!" Remy said. He would have moved before he remembered the other two people who had caught him. He looked at them, taking in the curious looks they had and waved his free hand at them. "You two aren't going to blast me with fire or something like that if I move, are you?"

"Um, no," the woman stuttered out, looking surprised.

"Who are you?" Scott asked, looking wary. Remy turned to look at him in surprised before he realized that his hood was still up.

"I can't believe you don't remember my voice," Remy groused as he pulled his hood off. "You're not much of a brother for forgetting me like that, you know. 'Course there's always the fact that you keep getting hit in the head when you were younger." He watched as Scott's expression change to confusion and then realization.

"Remy!" Scott said, sounding surprised.

"In the flesh," Remy replied. "You still remember my name. I'm touched." Scott walked over and gave him a tight hug which Remy returned.

"You asshole! Where have you been all this time?" Scott demanded as he let go of Remy. Remy shrugged.

"Here and there," he replied flippantly. "Doing what I do best and all. I just came to see how you and Alex were doing."

"You're brothers?" the other young man blurted out in surprise. "I thought it was just you and Alex!" Scott gave the man a sheepish look and both the young man and woman looked stunned by the expression.

"Oh my god, whoever he is, he's made Scott human," the woman said. Remy gave her an amused look while Scott scowled at them. There was a chuckle from behind and Remy glanced back to see Erik and the other man looking just as amused.

"Remy, it is good to see you again," Erik said smoothly. "I see your skills are just as sharp as usual."

"Of course they are," Remy replied with a mock bow to him. "I didn't reach master thief by just twiddling my thumb." There was a strangled noise from the young man, who looked even more shocked than before.

"Of course not," Erik agreed. Remy then shifted his attention to the other man, who stepped forward with a hand out.

"I am Charles Xavier, the headmaster of the Institute," he said. Remy took his hand and shook it.

"Remy LeBeau," he replied. Xavier raised an eyebrow as he withdrew his hand.

"I was under the impression that you are also a Summers," Xavier said.

"Same mother, different father," Remy said as he rubbed the apple on his cloak. "Family is family though in the end." He took a bite of the apple as he looked back at Scott.

"Would you like to stay the night, Master LeBeau?" Xavier asked. Remy swallowed his bite, frowning to himself with a bit of uncertainty.

"Please Remy?" Scott asked. "Just for a couple of days so we can catch up."

"Hard to say no to that," Remy replied and smiled.

* * *

Magnus closed the door to his room and bolted it shut before he turned to look at his bed. He wasn't tired yet so he took his cloak and belt off and put them on the bed before making his way to the balcony. Opening the door, he was greeted with a cool breeze as he stepped out. Leaning on the railing Magnus stared out into the night sky, looking at the stars and the moon and feeling the silence. 

"It is a nice night, is it not?" came a voice. Magnus looked to his left to see Ororo floating down from the sky. Straightening he gave her a nod of his head in greetings.

"It is," he replied. "It has been a long time, Ororo. What brings you here?"

"An interesting thief crossed my path the night before," Ororo said. "He reminded me of an old friend of ours. I followed him here tonight and was quite amused at how easy it was for him to enter."

"You must be talking about Remy," Magnus said with a chuckle. "He is a curious sorcerer, I will have to admit." There was silence between the two before Ororo spoke again.

"Something is happening," she said softly. "I can feel it, but I do not know what it is. A darkness comes, one that I haven't felt in ages but at the same time a light in the shadows."

"I know," Magnus replied.

"What will we do? The last time we fought against Her, we almost failed to defeat Her," she said. "We cannot hope to win with just the two of us."

"We will think of something," Magnus said. "Already Xavier's X-Men and Emma's Hellions prove to be powerful enough to stop Her warriors. It is She that we must think of a way to deal with."

* * *

To say that Alex was happy to see Remy was a bit of an understatement. The words ecstatic, joyful or even jubilant couldn't even describe Alex as he embraced Remy in a rather tight hug. Remy, while he enjoyed the fact that Alex was glad to see him, was starting to wonder if there was any chance Alex would be willing to let go of him soon so that he'd be able to breathe. As it was, Scott was amused and a lot of people were staring at him like he'd grown a second head, fire-eyes and all. 

"Little brother, I'm going to need to breathe soon," Remy wheezed out.

"Sorry, sorry!" Alex apologized, letting go of Remy. "I mean, gods above! I can't believe you're here, Remy! It's been years with no contact from you at all!"

"Uh, yeah, sorry about that," Remy said, scratching the back of his head. "I just didn't want to trouble you guys with my work."

"I distinctly remember helping you in some of those works," Scott murmured.

"Oh my god, our fearless leaders were both human once!" the young man from the kitchen said, clasping his chest and looking overly stricken. "Kitty! Hank! Something's wrong with them and I'm scared!"

"Shut up Bobby," Alex said, turning to glare at him. Remy just chuckled in amusement as he watched both his brothers glare at Bobby. Bobby in turn chose to use another young man with dark-blue skin and a tail as a shield.

"Save me, Kurt!" Bobby cried out melodramatically. "I'm too cute to die!"

"Don't you mean annoying?" Kurt said. Bobby pouted as Kurt, Kitty and Hank all grinned at him. Scott and Alex still looked annoyed at Bobby while Remy joined in with the other three and grinned.

"Today's a free day, people," Scott announced. "Tell the others and enjoy your day." Bobby and Kitty both gave a loud whoop before tearing out of the room at top speed. Remy blinked when Kitty went through the wall instead of the door like Bobby. Hank and Kurt just shook their heads and followed Bobby out the door at a more sedate pace.

"And now, you have to tell us what has happened," Alex said.

"Here?" Remy asked, looking around the kitchen.

"We could go to the sitting room," Scott suggested, "or maybe one of the studies. Today's a good day, so maybe the balcony is an option."

"Unless Emma is already there," Alex muttered.

"Sitting room's fine," Remy said as he raised an eyebrow at Alex. Scott nodded and led the way out of the kitchen to the sitting room, Remy and Alex trailing after him. "So where are Xavier and Erik?"

"In a meeting," Scott replied. "I'm not sure what the meeting is about, but it's probably going to be on for the whole day."

"So tell us what's been happening," Alex demanded as they entered the sitting room. Remy looked around the room, noting the huge windows and two fireplaces at each end of the room. There were plush couches by both fireplace and sitting chairs by the windows.

"This is a sitting room?" Remy asked. "It's big enough to be a dance hall."

"The dance hall is down the hall," Alex replied absently as he pushed Remy towards one of the couches. "Now start talking."

"Pushy, pushy, pushy," Remy said with an amused shake of his head. "What happened to my little brother who use to let Scott and me do all the talking?"

"He grew up. Talk now!"

"Alright, alright!" Remy said with a laugh. "Lots of things happened ten years ago, you know? Do you want the short version or—?"

"Just start from when you left us before Scott and I hurt you, Remy."

"Right. Well, get comfy because this is going to be a long story..."

-  
-

- _Friends are like memories, for they are never truly forgotten._  
- Anonymous

* * *

Just a note, the next chapter is going to be filled with flashbacks and cameos of different mutants, so it might get a little wordy (although it technically pretty wordy right now...)  



	4. Chapter Three

Title: The Gathering Night  
Author: May Chang  
Genre: slash, action, AU(fantasy)  
Pairings: Havok x Polaris, Northstar + Iceman, past Gambit x Storm  
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.

Author's Note: This chapter is filled with flashbacks, but it does address some events that has happened in the past in the comics.  
Edit: It has come to my attention that I've gotten Remy's father's name mixed up so I've uploaded the chapter again with the correct name. Thank you Stefbug for pointing that out to me:)

_

* * *

_**Chapter Three**  
_

* * *

_

_The path of life is filled with passing storms._

- Sayings of the Storm Goddess

-  
-

It had been good money when the man gave Remy the job. Help him look for some runaways and get paid like a king. Remy needed to get out of the city to begin with, to make sure that none of the watch would be able to get to Scott or Alex. It had only been a week and already, Remy was worried about Alex's powers and how Scott was doing.

The man though gave Remy the creeps and that was saying something. Remy had seen a lot of strange people during his life as a thief, but this man, with his pale skin and red-on-black eyes so much like his own and a smile that looked like a demon's grin...

This man was evil.

Squashing his fear of the man, Remy did eventually find the runaways. He had been surprised to find them in underground and even more to find children with them. He wasn't sure why his employer was so adamant on finding them, but money was money, and he was done with the job. He returned with the information and a few days later, the man called upon him once again, this time to lead a group of people down there. The pay was double of the last job and Remy agreed with a slight hesitation.

"Why?" Remy asked, frowning in confusion.

"To bring them back to the world above," the man said with a smile. Remy suppressed the urge to shudder at the smile and just nodded in response. He stood behind the man that night, facing a group of armed men and listening to the man speak.

"I've hired you all," the man started as the people all quieted down, "to look for some runaways of mine. From what my source here has told me they are currently hiding below the city."

"Anything else we should know about them?" one of the men asked.

"They're all sorcerers," he replied. Remy blinked at that and wondered how he could have missed that. He had just assumed that the runaways were former slaves of the man.

"No wonder he's willing to pay us so much," another armed man muttered.

"Good luck to you all," the man said, and Remy left with the others below the city. For some reason though, he felt that the man was looking at him as he walked away.

"So who was that guy?" he asked as he glanced back at the man.

"Some alchemist turned sorcerer," a man replied with a grunt. "Calls himself Sinister, and trust me, that name speaks the truth about him. You don't want to cross him, y'know?" Remy nodded mutely in response; Sinister was a good name for him.

* * *

"Runaway sorcerers?" Scott asked, his brow furrowing. "I haven't heard anything about them."

"You wouldn't," Remy said. "They don't trust people, so they have their own underground city and all."

"So what happened to them?" Alex asked.

"I led the men there and they took care of the runaways," Remy said airily. "My job was done, I got paid and then I moved on to the next city."

* * *

Trakia was hot and Remy wondered why he decided to come to the city. He knew that he was really doing to master his thieving skills since different cities had different types of guards and thieves, but dying of heatstroke hadn't really come to his mind until now. Making his way through the marketplace and keeping an eye on his purse, he finally made it to the inn. Stepping into the room, he glanced around to look for the man who had hired him for his next job, spotting him in a darkened corner towards the back of the room.

"Damn hot out there," Remy said in greeting as he approached the man. He noted the bandages that covered half of the man's face from mouth down and wondered what had happened to him.

"It's always hot in Trakia," he replied. "I'm Chamber."

"Call me Gambit. What's the job?" Remy asked as he wondered how Chamber was able to talk to him through his bandages. Chamber leaned forward, handing over a few parchments to Remy and a key.

"You need to get inside this bank and pick up the items in this strongbox. The key will unlock the strongbox," Chamber said, watching as Remy unrolled the parchment and skim through the contents. "I need it by night on fourth-day."

"No problem," Remy said as he rolled the parchment up and tucked it away. "Anything else I need to know?"

"Don't think so, but all the same, watch yourself," Chamber said with a shrug. "I'll see you on fourth-day."

The next night Remy was on the roof of the back, looking for an entrance. It was, after all, a bank so it was heavily-guarded. Dropping down onto a balcony, Remy lock-picked the door and entered the room, closing the doors behind him. Looking through his map, he found that the vault was on the first floor. Remy made his way towards the vault, although he stopped by some of the offices and the area behind the counters for some spending money.

_Rich people always did like to leave things outside_, Remy thought with amusement as he continued on to the area of the vault. Taking stock of the area, he noted that the guards weren't really paying attention to the area behind them, and that there was actually another way into the vault from above. Moving through the shadows, he found a walkway above him. Remy climbed up the wall and silently stepped onto the walkway. He lock-picked another door and stepped in, making sure that no guards were there.

Remy went through the area and found the way down downstairs, bypassing all of the guards from in front of the entrance. He walked down and eased by the guards before going up to the vault. He lock-picked the gate and eased it open, slipping inside and looking for the strongbox. Quickly finding the strongbox, Remy took the key out and unlocked it.

* * *

"So what was in it?" Alex asked.

"Lots and lots of papers," Remy said. "I'm not sure what the papers were about, except the first one said something about the Ahkabah Clan and Dark Riders."

"Dark Riders?" Alex and Scott shared a worried look, which Remy found a bit disconcerting. Kurt, Hank and a few other people who Remy had yet to meet had started to filter into the sitting room to listen to his story.

"Is there something I should know about them?" Remy asked.

"It's probably nothing," Scott said slowly, "but... well, the Dark Riders are apparently a group of people who believe that the Dark God would be coming back and cleanse Gaia of the weak. They also believe that the new world of the Dark God would be for those strong enough to survive the cleansing."

"In other words, they're zealots," Kurt added with a disgusted look.

"Chamber wasn't one of those zealots," Remy mused. "I think he just needed information and couldn't get to it. It was good money though, so after a year, I moved onto the next city..."

* * *

"I don't suppose you'd know what the hell is going on?" Remy asked as he and the woman stood back to back, weapons out and facing about twenty armed men. "Because, as pretty as you are, I'd like to keep myself intact."

"Then leave," the blonde replied with a sniff. "I can handle this myself."

"But then I wouldn't be able to ask you out on a date!" he cried as he braced himself for a rush. They moved together, dodging the rush and worked together in defeating all the armed men. With a satisfied smile, he turned and froze at the knife at his throat.

"I'm guessing you don't want to go on that date?" he joked weakly. The woman's eyes narrowed and for a moment, Remy wondered if this was the end for him before she smiled at him.

"You're new here, so I'll let you off with a warning," she said, tapping the blade of her knife gently against Remy's neck. "This is O'leons, home of the Assassin Guild and currently at war with the Thief Guild. If you want to live then get out of here." With that, she turned and left, sheathing the knife and pulling up her hood.

"This is going to be interesting," Remy murmured as he watched her walk away into the night. Smiling to himself, he turned and made his way to The Songbird Inn to meet with Jean-Luc LeBeau, leader of the Thief Guild and his father.

* * *

"You met up with your father?" Scott asked in surprised. "I didn't think you'd want to see him after everything."

"I wasn't really planning to," Remy admitted, "but he sent a message wanting to see me. Like I said before, there was a war between the Thief and Assassin guild, and to be honest, I'm not quite sure why."

"Why did Jean-Luc want you to come?" Alex asked curiously.

"To find a way to stop the war," Remy said and sighed. "That was easier said than done in the long run."

* * *

Remy stared in surprise at the sight of the woman, who in turned looked equally as surprised. He then turned to look at his father with a confused frown.

"What do you want me to do again?" Remy asked quietly. "And do you really hate me that much?"

"I need you to go with that assassin there and talk to the Keeper," Jean-Luc replied then frowned. "And why do you think I hate you?"

"Remember that encounter I hate a few nights ago with a woman?"

"Yes, it was most inter--oh. _Oh._" Jean-Luc's face went blank but Remy could sense that his father was now very amused by the situation. He glared at him for a moment before he looked back at the assassins with an impassive expression. The woman had an annoyed expression on her face as she glared at the leader of the Assassin guild.

"So we are agreed to let them go to the keeper?" the leader of the Assassin guild spoke. There were sounds of agreement from both guilds, and Remy and the woman stepped forward. "Good luck to you both." Remy and the woman bowed to the leaders and left the room, making their way through the darkened streets of O'Leons.

"So what's your name?" Remy asked after a time of silence between the two. "I can't very well call you lady all the time, right?" The woman glanced at him with an arched eyebrow and he just smiled back.

"Bella Donna," she replied, looking away. "And what should I call you?"

"Gambit," he replied.

"That's not your real name," she said in an accusing tone.

"I'm not into giving out my real name until I know you much better," Remy responded with a smile. She gave an annoyed snort, but her eyes twinkled in amusement. They continued on to the Keeper's place and Remy raised an eyebrow at the sight of the Storm Goddess's temple.

"You look surprised," Bella Donna said.

"I am," Remy replied. "I would have thought the Keeper would be at a Dark God temple." He automatically took out a few coins and dropped them into the donation box when they walked in, causing Bella Donna to give him an odd look, one which he ignored. They continued on through the halls of the temple until they reached a door to the Keeper's study. Bella Donna opened the door and entered the room, followed by Remy. The Keeper looked up, an old man in a priest robe, and sighed at them.

"No, I don't know who is suppose to be the ruler of O'leons, now stop asking me that question," the Keeper growled. Remy blinked while Bella Donna scowled.

"We're not asking you that," she retorted. The Keeper tilted his head and she continued. "We wish to know where Candra is."

"Candra?" the Keeper asked in surprise before his eyes narrowed. "You would confront such a powerful sorceress?"

"Yes," Bella Donna said immediately. "That woman is the reason for all of the deaths from the war. If we get rid of her, we will be able to restore peace between our two guilds."

"A death wish if I've ever heard one," the Keeper said with a sigh. "Of course I'll give you Candra's location."

* * *

"So how powerful was this Candra?" Kitty asked.

"Really powerful," Remy said as he rubbed his temple. "Apparently she was a former Gray Lord priestess who decided to screw around with humans. From what I could get out of the Keeper, she's been playing mind games with them for the past century, and she doesn't look a day over twenty-five."

"What?"

"You're not serious!"

"That's not possible!"

"I'm not lying!" Remy said, raising his hands and looking around the room. His audience had somehow changed to maybe every single student in the Institute and a few guards and servants as well. He even spotted Xavier, Erik and Emma in the back, looking rather amused by the whole event. "Now this Candra was - and I suppose still is - a powerful sorceress who figured out some sort of elixir that granted people long lives. It's what she's been taking, and Bella Donna and I had to put a stop to all her meddling."

"So what happened?" Bobby asked. "Did you fight her and stuff?"

"Of course we fought her," Remy replied, leaning forward a bit. "The tough part about the whole thing was that it was just me and Bella Donna. That woman wields a mean sword, which is especially great when we finally met Candra face to face..."

* * *

"How dare you play with us like some puppets!" Bella Donna screamed at Candra as she paused in the fight. The two were surrounded by her minions and Remy was wishing for the first time in his life that he had brought a short sword with him. Zombies were kind of new when it came into a fight and the rotting corpses were really freaking him out.

"Demons and sin, this is scary," he growled out. "We can't keep fighting these monsters for long, Bella."

"I know," she replied, swinging her sword at one and lopping its head off. "This is a little bit out of my league."

"A _little_ bit?"

"Shut up and kill them, Gambit!" Candra just laughed at them, sitting on her throne and watched as Remy and Bella Donna keep the zombies away from them. Remy knew that both of them weren't going to make it through the ordeal without some intervention, so he decided to make one. Pulling some cards out, he charged them up.

"Get ready to duck," he said to Bella Donna. She just glanced at him before sticking her sword into a zombie and swinging it off towards another. "Duck!"

She ducked and Remy launched his cards to his left and right. Explosions filled the room and some zombies were blown up. In the confusion, Remy pulled out more cards and blew up even more zombies.

"Go, Bella Donna," he said. "I'll take care of them. Go and finish off Candra!" The assassin nodded to him and dashed off to the throne. Candra by then had gotten off the throne, an angry expression on her face as she readied what appeared to be a fireball.

"You think you can defeat me?" she asked. "Think again!" The sorceress launched the fireball at Bella Donna, who managed to dodge it. Remy had to do some quick moves to avoid it, although his cloak had still caught on fire. Slipping it off, Remy wrapped the cloak around his staff and used it to ward away the zombies.

"Eat fire, you abominations!" he said, shoving the flaming cloak into one. The zombie burst into flames, staggering back into another and setting that one on fire before it fell and stopped moving. Remy continued to wave the fire around, keeping the dead away from him before he realized that Bella Donna and Candra weren't in the room anymore. "Demons and sin!"

Looking around the room, Remy knew that the only way to get to Bella Donna was to get by the zombies. With that, he pulled out the last of his cards and charged it up.

"This is going to be a big boom," he said with a grin and tossed the cards at the remaining zombies. The explosion was loud and spectacular, littering the floor with body parts. Smiling grimly Remy dropped the cloak and raced off to find Bella Donna. She was lying face down on the ground, a blank expression on her face when he finally found her. Remy could feel his heart freeze at the sight and then he heard Candra's.

"Don't look so surprised, thief," she said, her voice echoing through the room. "This is the price you get for crossing me."

"You bitch!" he shouted angrily. "Come out and face me, Candra!"

"Why do you care, Gambit?" Candra called out, ignoring his demand. "You're not even part of either guild in O'Leons. Why do you even bother trying to help them?"

"Because thieves and assassin are all brothers of the night," Remy replied. "We answer only to the Dark God in the end." Candra laughed at his response.

"How noble!" she said. "And how stupid!" Remy was hit from the back and he fell forward, stunned by the hit. He rolled away in time from another hit and got to his feet, facing Candra.

"You're in over your head, Gambit," Candra said with a smile. "Tonight will only be like any other night. The war will go on."

* * *

"I'm going to have to say right now," Remy said, raising a hand, "I'm not quite sure what happened next. I just know that Candra and I faced down against each other, and in the end I won."

"How can you not know?" a young man demanded. "You were there!"

"There's this thing about fights," Remy said solemnly. "Sometimes you can remember everything crystal clear and other times, it's just a blur. In this case, it's just a blur, but I do remember causing another big boom."

"What happened to Bella Donna?" asked a woman with red hair and a white stripe going through it. "Did she die?"

"Actually no," Remy replied. "I thought she was dead, but it turns out that she still had a little spark of life left in her. Candra disappeared after our fight, but I got lucky and found an extra bottle of that elixir in the room. Bella Donna's been doing fine ever since."

"And the war?" Alex asked. Remy smiled. "There is now a unified guild down in O'leons," Remy said. "We just call it the Dark Guild, since thieves and assassins all worship the Dark God."

"Except you," Scott added.

"Except me," Remy agreed. "Jean-Luc and Marius are heading it, although from what I hear, they'll be stepping down before long. I stayed around to help them with the guild for about three years and then I move on to a new city. That's when things started to get interesting..."

* * *

Remy stared as he watched the two strange-looking men literally swinging through the cities. The fact that they were swinging was pretty amazing enough, but when one of the men started to climb up the wall without any equipment at all, Remy decided that this was one of the weirder things he'd seen thus far.

"Who were they?" Remy asked one of the bystanders.

"Daredevil and Spider-Man," a boy piped up before the man could answer. "They're good people and fight the bad people."

"I see," Remy said, glancing down at the child and then back at the man.

"They're fighting against the Fisk nobility," the man said, a smile crossing his face.

"The Fisk nobility?"

"You're a stranger to Neyaeil, I take it?" the man said. "My name is Curt Conners. I'm a doctor here in Neyaeil and this is my son, William." He held out a hand and Remy realized at that point that he was missing his right arm. Remy took his hand though since he felt it'd be rude to not shake hands with the man.

"How do you...? I mean I... Not to be rude..." Remy started before Curt laughed.

"That's okay, he replied. "I'm lucky enough that most of my patients don't really need two hands to help. Besides my colleague has enough hands to spare."

_I'm not sure that I really want to know the meaning of that_, Remy thought. Curt just smiled and he started to walk away with William. Remy moved to follow him.

"The Fisk nobility is what you would call the ruling family," Curt began. "They're like the monarchy here, even though we have a council who are suppose to be the ones passing the laws. Unfortunately they all seem to be in Fisk's pockets."

"They're the reason dad lost his arm," William said, his tone angry. Curt frowned down at his son while Remy nodded.

"Spider-Man and Daredevil are just a few people who are willing to fight against the Fisk nobility," Curt continued after a moment. "There are others, but those two are perhaps the most popular in the city because they are willing come out in the day."

"I see," Remy said, nodding. "Thank you for telling me this."

"No problem," Curt said. They stopped before a small building and he gestured towards it. "This is my clinic. We live in the back so if you ever need help, we're here."

"Thank you," Remy said. He then looked around. "Would you mind if you pointed me towards an inn?" Curt smiled and pointed in a direction which Remy followed. He soon found an inn and checked in. Sitting in his room and staring out the window, he wondered if perhaps a little thievery from the Fisk nobility was in order.

It was his third night in Neyaeil when he met Spider-Man and the Black Cat. He had decided to do a little scouting around the city that night when he came across the two fighting. Looking around the city, Remy decided to just sit on the side and watch the fight. Both of them were good and while he couldn't really see Spider-Man, what he did see of the Black Cat was rather nice.

"Are you two done fighting yet?" he called out when they parted for a breath. They turned to look at him and Remy wanted to pout at the sight of Spider-Man's masked face. He bet that the vigilante would have the same exact expression of surprise as the Black Cat.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded.

"Just a passer-by," he replied cheerfully.

"Not to be rude," Spider-Man said, "but normally don't passer-bys stick to the ground and not to the roofs?"

"That's too ordinary," Remy said with a sniff. "It's too nice a night out to be stuck enjoying it from the ground." The woman was starting to smile and Remy decided to turn the charm on to full blast. "Don't mind my asking and all, but why are you fighting?"

"I'm not fighting," the Black Cat said. "I'm flirting with him."

"_Excuse me?_" Spider-Man shot back. "Trying to knee me in the groin _does not_ constitute as _flirting_." Remy just sat back and watched as the two began to argue, amused at the way they seemed to be flirting and trying to kill each other at the same time.

"Sorry to interrupt again," Remy said as they paused for a breather once again, "but would either of you happen to know where the Fisk compound is?"

"Why are you asking?" Spider-Man asked. "Don't tell me you're another person with a vendetta against him."

"Uh, no," Remy said. "I just want to rob him blind." Spider-Man and the Black Cat both stared at him.

"You're kidding."

"No."

"You want to rob Richard Fisk, evil overlord of Neyaeil?"

"Rob isn't really the right word. I think procuring items is much nicer," Remy said.

"I think I'm in love," the Black Cat said. "You just spoke the most beautiful words I've ever heard from a man."

"You're welcome," Remy replied with a smile. "So now about the locations of those compounds here..."

* * *

"Ye robbed Lord Fisk?" a red-head asked in awe.

"Yes, I did indeed procure some valuable items from him," Remy said leaning back with a smile. "Those were probably the best days of my life, stealing everything from Fisk and selling them all for a pretty penny on the market. Of course, about half of the money went to Curt to help with his clinic."

"That was pretty nice of you, Remy," Scott said softly.

"Least I could do in that city," Remy said, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Besides, I didn't really do much. Spider-Man, Daredevil and the Black Cat did most of the fighting against Fisk. All I did was sit on the sidelines and redirect shipments."

"Redirect shipments...?" Bobby asked.

"He means smuggling," Alex replied. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you Remy?" Remy grinned at him.

"So what happened next?" Bobby asked impatiently.

"Well, I only stayed in Nayaeil for two years before I went off," Remy said. "When I left, Fisk had the guards all out looking for everyone, including me. I really didn't like to keep looking over my shoulders so I said good-bye to them and left. I spent the next four years just traveling the world. Ten years would have been enough time for the guards to forget about me by then so I decided to pay my brothers a visit."

"And I'm glad you came," Alex said with a smile. Scott nodded and Remy also heard murmurs of assent from the group. Looking around, he noticed a blue-skinned woman with red hair and a short, stocky man by Xavier's side. Tucking that observation away, he looked out the window and was startled by how late it was.

"Have I been talking the whole day?" he asked in surprise. He hadn't noticed the time when he was telling his story and now that he realized the time, he noticed that he was getting hungry. There was a growl and Bobby gave the group a sheepish look.

"Sorry, sorry," he said with a smile. "Didn't notice the time."

"Same here," Remy said. "Kind of hungry myself."

"Well, you did talk the whole day away," Kitty said as she got up from where she sat. It seemed like a signal to the others as they all got up and started making their way to the kitchen. Remy looked up to see that Xavier and the others with him had disappeared before he followed the others into the kitchen for some food. 

-  
-

_Memories are what makes us who we were in the past, who we are in the present and who we will be in the future._

- Xavier to Magnus

* * *

And now for a preview of the next chapter: 

_ Flipping on top of a section of a well, Remy crouched down on it, a hand down to support him on the wall and his staff in the other. He studied Logan, breathing hard and giving himself a general idea on how to take on the man. Logan was crouched as well, but had a grin on his face that bordered on maniacal.  
_

_"Didn' think you'd last this long," Logan said in a conversational tone.  
_

_"Same to you," Remy replied with a smile. "But then again, I'm more use to taking out people who don't know that I'm here."  
_

_"Thought so," Logan said with a nod. "Thieves always fight like that." Suddenly Logan charged at Remy. Surprised, Remy threw himself backwards off the wall, flipping mid-air to land on his feet. Logan jumped over the wall and lunged at him, claws out first. Remy dropped and kicked Logan in the stomach before sending him over using his momentum. His leg strained at the weight of Logan and for a moment, Remy wondered what the man was eating to be that heavy. Logan landed with a roll and was back on his feet just as Remy jumped back onto his feet.  
_

_"You're heavy," Remy said, raising an eyebrow. "What in the Dark God's name have you been eating?"  
_

_"Puppies," Logan deadpanned. "Lots of puppies. They're quite fattenin', y'know."  
_

_"Well, for those poor fat puppies' sake, I'll have to beat you up," Remy replied solemnly. Logan just chuckled and attacked again._


	5. Chapter Four

Title: The Gathering Night   
Author: May Chang  
Genre: AU(fantasy)  
Pairings: Havok x Polaris, Wolverine x Mystique, Cyclops + Rogue, Northstar + Iceman, past Gambit x Storm  
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.

Author's Note: Oh look, another two pairings! Yes, it is indeed Wolvering x Mystique, a nod to the "House of M" saga and quite possibly one of the most interesting pairings I've heard of. The Rogue and Cyclops one though, I'm not sure if I'm going to keep them friends or not, but it would be kind of interesting. :p

* * *

** Chapter Four**

* * *

_Those who follow the Dark God are cowards for their lord and master is gone! Those who follow the Gray Lord are fools for their lord have led them to death! Those who follow the Storm Goddess are weak for their mistress has told them not to fight! That is why we who follow the Phoenix Queen will be triumphant in any war against any and all of them!_

- Madelyne Pryor, Speaker for the Phoenix Queen

-  
-

"He looks familiar," Raven said as she laid on her side in bed, tracing his back with her fingers. "I'm sure I've seen him before." "

Probably," Logan grunted as he looked back at her from where he laid. "Right now though, I don't think I can remember what day it is." Raven laughed softly before she leaned forward and kissed him. He returned her kiss then kissed her deeper as he pulled her closer to him. She returned the kiss, moaning as Logan reached up and cupped a breast. She smiled as she broke the kiss and he returned the smile with one of his own before she leaned in for another kiss.

Sex was always amazing when it came to him. Raven knew that they looked like quite the odd couple, but if anyone actually realized just how old both of them really were, then they'd understand. She had worked with and against him for at least thirty years before they both decided to just work together. That of course led to interesting events and, of course, really fantastic sex.

"So what's this 'bout who?" Logan asked as he kissed the back of her neck as she panted from the aftermath. Raven sighed and turned to face him, kissing him on the lips and tracing a hand up and down his arm.

"The brother Remy," Raven said. "I know I've seen him before."

"Possibly," Logan replied. "He wandered around a lot, so there's a chance that we may have met him and just forgot."

"I don't forget people that quickly," Raven retorted. "You're the one with the memory problem, not me." Logan just scowled at her before Raven began to snicker.

"You're a bitch," Logan growled.

"And you love me for it."

"Damn right I do." Raven laughed softly and kissed him again.

"He's still familiar to me," she said. Logan sighed and laid back, letting her cuddle up to his side.

"The only place where we might've met him," Logan said, "would have either been here in Wehles or durin' his four years of wanderin' around."

"Maybe," Raven mused to herself. "There's something else though about him, something I don't like."

"Well, most of the girls here have been talkin' 'bout him," Logan said. "Even Rogue's been wonderin' 'bout him."

"She'd better not be talking to him," Raven said sharply.

"Raven, she's twenty-five," Logan replied calmly. "Let her have a little fun with the mystery boy. Besides, you know she likes Scott more."

"That doesn't make me less worried," she said dryly. Logan just chuckled, raising a hand to stroke her bare shoulder. "

Relax, beautiful," he said. "Erik ain't interested in her. To be honest, I don't think he's interested in anyone." Raven huffed and Logan just grinned down at her.

"Well, it'll come to me," Raven announced. "I'll just have to keep an eye on him."

"Suit yourself," Logan replied with a shrug.

* * *

_He could feel the sadness in the air as he stared up into the dark gray sky, the rain falling coldly onto his face. Someone was calling his name, but he couldn't quite hear who it was or whether it was a male or female. All he knew was that it was cold and he was oh so tired. He closed his eyes and thought he felt something warm fall on his face before it was washed away by the cold. _

_"We've won, my old friend. We've won for now."_

Remy jerked awaked, eyes snapping open to stare up at the dark ceiling. He felt cold and for a moment he wondered if he had left the window opened. Sitting up, he looked towards it and saw that the window was closed.

It was such a strange dream and he wasn't sure as to what had caused it. Laying back down and curling up under the covers, Remy stared into nothing, feeling like he should know what the dream was about yet he couldn't remember. He shivered under his covers and this time it wasn't from the cold.

--------------------

"What have you two been doing for the last ten years?" Remy asked in the early morning as he and his brothers walked through the halls towards the kitchen. Alex just yawned while Scott shrugged in response.

"Learning about our gifts," Scott said. "Professor Xavier and Lady Frost have been training us on how to use it to help humans."

"What?" Remy asked in surprised. "Help humans how?"

"We don't know," Alex replied. "They're all awfully secretive, but Kurt did say that his mother and Logan have been going Nifelleim a lot lately. Every time they come back, they always seem to bring bad news since Professor Xavier always looks so serious after talking to them." "

Nifelleim? Isn't that where everyone who follows the Phoenix Queen is?" Remy asked. Scott nodded as he opened the door to the kitchen. The woman with red hair and a white streak through it and a dark-blue skinned man with a tail looked up from the table and nodded a greeting to the brothers.

"Morning, Rogue, Kurt," Scott said curtly.

"Mornin', Scott," Rogue replied with a smile. "We gon' have trainin' today?"

"Yes," Scott said. "Training will be at ninth glass. I'll be assigning teams."

"Okay," Kurt said, nodding before he looked at Remy. "Good morning."

"Morning," Remy replied, nodding to Kurt before he looked at Rogue. She just ignored him as she sipped her coffee and finished up her egg toast. Remy mentally frowned as he realized that she was covered from the neck down. Remy followed his brothers to the counter to get pick up some breakfast, grabbing a mug of coffee, a plate of egg toast and an apple. Turning back, he seated himself across from Rogue and Kurt.

"I am Kurt Wagner," the man said, "and this is my sister Rogue."

"Remy LeBeau," Remy replied, reaching a hand out to shake. Kurt took it and Remy was surprised to see only three fingers. "What is this training you guys are going to have?"

"Battle training," Scott replied as he returned with a mug and a plate of egg toast. Alex came back with coffee and a bowl of porridge and the two seated themselves on either side of Remy. "It teaches us how to fight and how to use our powers at the same time."

"Not that the Professor condones violence," Alex added. "Now that I think of it, I think Emma's more the beat-people-up type."

"You are the more aggressive one," Rogue noted. Remy chuckled while Alex gave them all a dirty look. The door opened and a woman with dark-blue skin like Kurt and red hair stepped in. Kurt stood up as she walked over to them and gave her a hug.

"Good morning mother. Where's Logan?" he said.

"Figuring out how to best mess up Scott and Alex's training run," she replied with a smile. Scott and Alex both groaned while Rogue laughed quietly. Remy was at a loss but he did notice that the woman was very attractive, almost ethereal.

_Like Candra, now that I think of it_, Remy thought and gave a mental shudder. _This is one woman I'm going to have to be careful with._ "Good mornin', momma," Rogue said with a smile.

"Good morning, Raven," Scott and Alex said. She then looked at Remy and Remy smiled back at her charmingly.

"I'm Raven Darkholme," she said, holding a hand out.

"Remy LeBeau," he replied, taking her hand and shaking it. He noticed how strong she was and tucked away that piece of information. He then frowned as he realized something. "Have we met before?"

"Not that I know of," Raven replied as she dropped his hand. Remy just continued to frown for a bit before he shrugged. "Will you be joining the kids in training?"

"Kids?" Alex said, sounding rather offended. Raven gave him an amused look while Remy glanced over at Scott.

"I'd like to see what this training is all about," Remy replied, raising as eyebrow at Scott. Scott just sighed.

"Don't come crying to me if I beat the crap out of you, Remy," Scott said.

"I could say the same to you, Scott," Alex said, grinning at Scott.

"Ah, sibling rivalry. I'm glad we don't have that problem," Kurt muttered.

--------------------

After breakfast, Remy had followed everyone to what was called the Danger Room where they met up with Logan. Remy instantly liked the gruff man and the feelings may have been mutual with Logan. Scott and Alex then split up the people into four teams of four, Remy on a team with the red-head and the young man from yesterday as well as a dark-hair woman. Shaking hands with them, he learned all their names and power.

The red-head's name was Rahne Sinclair and her ability was to turn into a werewolf. She also had a thick accent that spoke of a Reish heritage but thankfully Remy could actually understand her. The young man was Jamie Madrox and Remy was most amused by the introduction; Rahne smacked his shoulder and then there were two Jamie. The new Jamie quickly began to flirt with Remy and the original Jamie quickly reabsorbed him, apologizing profusely to Remy. The third was Monet St. Croix, a Trakian with multiple abilities, but notably strength and speed. She was also the most serious of the three, yet they all seem to follow Jamie.

Scott's team consisted of Kitty, Kurt and a young girl by the name of Paige while Alex had Hank on his team as well as a green-hair woman named Lorna and an Asyieal by the name of Piotr. Rogue's team seemed odd to Remy, consisting of Bobby, Logan and a winged young man called Jay. There was some resemblance between Jay and Paige, and Remy was pretty sure that they were related, possibly even brother and sister.

The training was basically a free-for-all and Remy had thought that they would be training in a courtyard. Instead they were lead to what was known as the Danger Room, something Erik had created some time ago. Remy was surprised to see the stark room suddenly turn into what appeared to be ruins of a city during the evening.

"Holy...," Remy said in awe. His teammates gave him an amused look as he looked around and even touched the ground and the ruins itself. "This is amazing..."

"What's the plan?" Monet asked in an imperious tone.

"Scott be doin' hit-and-runs," Rahne said. "Kitty and Kurt are the best at that an' Scott's not bad at it either."

"I agree," Jamie said. "We'll let the other teams take 'em first, unless they come at us. Then we need to take Kurt out first then Kitty. Paige is green, but I'm betting that she's going to be sticking with Scott for this."

"What about Alex and Rogue's team?" Remy asked.

"Alex likes frontal assault," Monet replied. "He and Lorna are really good together. Hank and Piotr though are more hand-to-hand, so it's most likely they'll be sticking close to Alex and Lorna as defense."

"As for Rogue's team, they be wild cards," Rahne with a nod. Remy frowned in confusion and Jamie spoke up.

"Bobby's a natural prankster so he's pretty good at pulling out surprises on his enemies," Jamie explained. "Fortunately he prefers to face his enemies to pull out his surprises. Jay's pretty sneaky too, but all he can do is really fly around, so he's going to be skulking around a lot."

"Rogue and Logan are loners," Monet added. "Usually Logan likes the frontal assault as much as Alex and Bobby, but that's because no one has been able to beat him face-to-face. Rogue, on the other hand, will change up her strategy anytime because she uses her opponent's abilities to her advantage."

"That's why she be Scott's co-leader," Rahne said.

"Wilds cards," Remy ended with a nod. "Got it. Then I say we play hide-and-seek with them all."

"Excuse me?" Monet asked, frowning.

"I don't do face-to-face combat and hit-and-run usually means that people can still see you when you hit them," Remy said. "I'm a thief, and usually thieves like to use the shadows to their advantage. Silent takedowns - non-lethal, mind you - and mind tricks are the best."

"We are pretty good at stealth," Jamie said dubiously. "Do you think it'd work?"

"As long as we get the others to beat each other up first," Remy replied with a lazy smile. "And I have a good idea how. First thing though, I think we should go for cover as soon as we can."

"Heads up," Monet said as she changed her stance to a defensive one. "The battle is about to start." Remy instantly changed his stance, watching from the corner of his eye as Rahne shifted into her werewolf form and crouched down while Jamie also changed to a battle stance.

"You're all in trouble now," Alex said with a grin.

"Say that when you beat us," Rogue said with a sniff. Scott gave no reply as he raised a hand up to his visor. Remy just took out a few cards. No one moved for a moment, all looking at one another warily, when Remy threw out three cards, one at each team and exploded the ground. Dust and smoke filled the air and Remy and his team scurried away into the shadows. He was sure the others also moved away towards covers, but now it was time to relate his team a plan.

--------------------

"That was sneaky," Alex grumped as his team warily made their way through the ruins. "I'm going to love beating the crap out of Remy." Hank chuckled in response while Lorna and Piotr smiled.

"Just how good is he?" Lorna asked quietly. "I mean, Remy. We've only heard his stories, but they're just stories in the end."

"Well, I know back in the day, he could raid a house in under half a glass without alerting anyone," Alex said after a moment's thought. He would have said more when they all heard a rustle. Both he and Lorna raised a hand while Piotr changed into his metal form and crouched down with Hank.

"Run away!" Jamie suddenly shouted as he ran out of nowhere towards Alex's team with an iced-up Bobby hot on his tail.

"Ack!" another Jamie yelled as he ran from another direction with Kurt chasing him.

"Oh my stars and garters," Hank said. The two Jamies suddenly swerve towards each other, stopped and gave them all a cheerful grin and a wave before they started to melt away. Alex took the opportunity to blast at Bobby while Lorna went after Kurt.

"Demons and sin!" Bobby yelped, just barely dodging the blast. He hurled a few chunks of ice at the team, all of which was reflected away by Lorna. "Sneaky little..."

"I could say the same to you!" Kurt yelped as he teleported away from Hank and Piotr. "Although I'm sorry to say but you're all going down!"

Rahne and Jamie were grinning with excitement as they watched Hank and Bobby take each other out and Alex catching Kurt off-guard and defeating him. The event was made even better when Rogue joined into the battle, catching Lorna off-guard while she was trying catch her breath. Lorna hit the ground as Rogue absorbed her powers and, in turn got rid of Piotr rather quickly before she raced off into the darkness.

Alex just looked at his fallen team and groaned.

"Go after him now?" Rahne whispered, a slight growl in her voice.

"No," Jamie whispered back. "Our job's done. Let's go to the second site." They quickly moved away, checking to make sure neither Rogue nor Alex had seen them and were following after. They met Monet at the second site, where she had Kitty and Jay there, both looking slightly sullen.

"Prisoners?" Jamie asked in surprise.

"No, dead people," Monet replied calmly. "How did things go on your end?"

"Hank and Bobby took each other out," Rahne reported. "Alex knocked out Kurt and Rogue took out Piotr and Lorna. Never thought that Jamie's dupes would come in handy that way." Jamie smiled cheerfully while Monet nodded.

"I caught Jay-bird here first since he was tracking Kitty," Monet said. "Then I took out Kitty. Scott and Paige are to the west from here from my scouting of the area. We should be able to catch them off guard."

"You guys are sneaky," Jay announced, pouting.

"We had an excellent teacher," Jamie said piously. "Although said teacher has a death wish."

--------------------

Remy, teacher of sneaky tricks, was currently having the time of his life. Logan was having fun as well - or at least Remy thought so - as they moved through a section of the ruins, fighting and dodging. It was almost like a dance if one stood by the sideline and Remy was the one leading it. He hadn't expected to actually face Logan, but apparently the man could sense him in the shadows. The claws were also a surprise to Remy, but he somehow he was able to work the situation well.

_Note to self: do not step in front of claws_, Remy thought as he moved away in time to watch Logan slice the wall of a building like a hot knife through butter. _I don't really want to see what those claws do to a person._

Flipping on top of a section of a well, Remy crouched down on it, a hand down to support him on the wall and his staff in the other. He studied Logan, breathing hard and giving himself a general idea on how to take on the man. Logan was crouched as well, but had a grin on his face that bordered on maniacal.

"Didn' think you'd last this long," Logan said in a conversational tone.

"Same to you," Remy replied with a smile. "But then again, I'm more use to taking out people who don't know that I'm here."

"Thought so," Logan said with a nod. "Thieves always fight like that." Suddenly Logan charged at Remy. Surprised, Remy threw himself backwards off the wall, flipping mid-air to land on his feet. Logan jumped over the wall and lunged at him, claws out first. Remy dropped and kicked Logan in the stomach before sending him over using his momentum. His leg strained at the weight of Logan and for a moment, Remy wondered what the man was eating to be **that** heavy. Logan landed with a roll and was back on his feet just as Remy jumped back onto his feet.

"You're heavy," Remy said, raising an eyebrow. "What in the Dark God's name have you been eating?"

"Puppies," Logan deadpanned. "Lots of puppies. They're quite fattenin', y'know."

"Well, for those poor fat puppies' sake, I'll have to beat you up," Remy replied solemnly. Logan just chuckled and attacked again.

--------------------

Rogue was startled to see Kitty and Jay sitting by the ruins together, talking softly together. Walking cautiously up to them, she gave her teammate a frown and he just gave her a sheepish look.

"We're dead," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Monet caught us."

"Really?" Rogue asked, frowning. "No wonder Ah didn' see her goin' for Alex."

"I was surprised as well," Kitty added. "Monet's tough enough to take on Hank or Piotr, and so is Rahne. I bet this has something to do with Remy." Rogue gave them a thoughtful look before she nodded.

"Ah bettah start movin'," Rogue said reluctantly. "Ah still have tah find Scott." Kitty and Jay exchanged a look and Rogue raised an eyebrow in question.

"Monet, Rahne and Jamie are going after Scott and Paige," Jay said. "I think maybe you should steer clear of them for the moment."

"Can't," Rogue replied after a moments thought. "Both of you are dead an' can't really give me advice. Ah jus' hope Ah get out of this alive." She gave them a rueful smile and moved off towards the west.

It took Rogue about ten minutes to find Scott and Paige, and she was surprised to see that Rahne, Monet and Jamie were not present. Crouching behind a wall, she peered out to take in the surrounding, noting that Scott and Paige were in a very open area. Smiling to herself, Rogue moved towards a shadowed area and took off into the air. Floating up there, she then dived towards them.

Scott suddenly turned his head up to and fired at her, but Rogue was able to deflect it with a shield. She collided into him, but before she could do anything, Scott flung her off of him and scrambled up to his feet again. She threw up a shield to deflect another of his blast and would have blasted him back when Paige tackled her. Rogue grunted in surprise but held the shield up as Scott continued to blast at her. She kicked Paige in the stomach then launched herself away from the girl, charging towards Scott again.

Paige got up, ready to charge after Rogue when something tackled her. They rolled away from Scott and Rogue and into a shadowed area before the person got off of her. Paige rolled onto her stomach, but froze at the sound of a growl. Slowly looking up, she found herself facing Rahne.

"Uh... hi?" she squeaked.

"Hello," Monet replied as she appeared from above. "Guess what? You're dead."

"Aw man..."

Meanwhile Rogue succeeded in defeating Scott, absorbing his power. He laid there breathing hard and she sat atop of him, breathing equally hard.

"Lorna's powers?" he asked after a moment.

"Yes," she replied with a smile.

"How in the goddess's name did you manage to get her powers?" Scott asked, raising his head up to look at her. Rogue got off of him and looked around, a frown on her face as she realized that Paige wasn't there.

"Luck," she replied, "and where did Paige go?" Scott sat up and scanned the area, a frown crossing his face.

"I'm... not sure," Scott said slowly. "She may be green, but she's stubborn as hell. Actually she should have jumped you even before you got me." Rahne suddenly loped into view, tongue out and giving them an amused look. Scott and Rogue looked at each other, understanding coming across before they glared at Rahne. She actually looked like she was grinning at them before she turned and raced off into the trees.

"Sneaky," Rogue said.

"Very sneaky," Scott added. "I sense Remy has a hand in this."

--------------------

Remy's nose itched and he wanted to scratch it, but right now, he was busy being on top of Logan. Shifting his feet slowly and carefully, he made his way over the tree branch, hoping it would support his weight as he stared down at Logan. Grinning to himself, he was glad that at the moment, he was downwind and Logan wouldn't be able to smell him out for now. Logan growled and Remy would have bet that he would have been cursing about now.

Pulling out a couple cards, Remy charged them up and tossed them at Logan's feet. Dirt exploded and Logan jerked away, leaving him unbalanced. Remy pounced at the moment, dropping down on top of Logan and slamming him into the ground. Logan's breath was knocked out of him and Remy just smirked at him triumphantly, a foot on Logan's chest and tapping his staff against Logan's neck.

"Nice," Logan said as he got his breath back. "Didn' even sense you."

"Thank you," Remy drawled. "You're not bad yourself. I don't think I'd want to face you on a real battlefield." Logan just grinned and Remy grinned back as he took his feet off of Logan and offered him a hand.

"But seriously," Remy said, "what the hell do you eat? You weigh more than a horse and hitting you is like hitting a wall!"

--------------------

Alex knew he was being hunted, but everywhere he looked, all he saw were shadows. Cautiously making his way towards the north, he thought he saw something move to his right. He turned to see, his hands readied to blast. Nothing met his eyes and for a moment Alex thought he was seeing things.

Getting slammed into the ground from above told him otherwise. He looked up, hands trying to push himself up, only to feel a weight above him and Rahne in front of him, her wolf form looking very amused.

"You're dead, Alex," Monet said from atop of him and tapping a finger on his cheek.

"I knew I saw something," he grumped as he glared at Rahne. Rahne laughed quietly while Monet got off of him and helped him up to his feet. "Now that I think of it, this is the first time I've seen either of you." He frowned.

"Jamie helped take out my team before you two come in," he said aloud. "Remy had something to do with it, didn't he?"

Monet just smirked.

--------------------

"NOT THE HAIR, NOT THE HAIR!" one of the Jamies yelled in a terrified voice as he ran away back into the forest. "That's one of my good points!"

"I thought that was our ass!" another Jamie said as he ran away from Rogue, who was currently firing red blasts at all the duplicates with her eyes. She groaned at that duplicate and tried to shoot him, only to miss.

"Eyes, hair, butt, who cares!" a third Jamie piped up. "Right now, I just don't want to get hit!"

"Well then, point me to the real Jamie an' Ah'll shoot him!" Rogue yelled. Scott, who had accompanied Rogue, was currently sitting on top of a wall and had an amused expression on his face. Rogue ignored him and continued firing at the duplicates. "Damn it all, HOLD STILL!"

"**NEVER!**" all the duplicates cried, almost like a battle-cry. Scott nearly laughed as Rogue yelled out obscenities at the duplicates and actually succeeded in blasting one.

"That's one way to distract him," a voice spoke behind him. Scott started and turned his head to see Logan and Remy watching the fight, amused expressions on both their faces. Scott nearly gave a double-take on Logan at the fact that he actually looked amused.

"So who won?" Scott asked in a neutral voice.

"Me, of course," Remy said.

"He got lucky," Logan said reluctantly.

"Rematch another time?" Remy suggested.

"Damn right." They both shared and grin while Scott shook his head in amusement before they all turned their attention back to Rogue and all the Jamies running around.

"I think it's time I made my debut," Remy drawled.

"Rogue's going to kill you," Logan said.

"Ooh, feisty," Remy said, giving him a cheeky grin. "Well, she's alone if Monet and Rahne did their jobs."

"I knew you had something to do with this battle," Scott groused.

"I had to pick up something over the last ten years," Remy said. He then sauntered towards the battlefield while Logan just leaned against the wall next to Scott. Scott couldn't help but lean forward a bit, eager to see the coming battle. Remy slid out a couple cards but he didn't charge them up, watching as Jamies bounced around and distracted Rogue. Rogue turned and spotted Remy sauntering up towards her and she scowled.

"You swamp rat!" she yelled. "All these hyper Jamies had tah be your fault!"

"Hey!" a few Jamies called out, sounding rather offended. "We're not hyper!"

"I am," one of them piped up. Remy could actually hear the uncontained bounce in the voice.

"Shut up!" Rogue threw a hand behind her, her eyes never leaving Remy, and blasted at random. A few Jamies squawked and she hoped that the blast had hit some of them. Remy gave her a lazy smile.

"Oh good, we din' miss the battle," another voice called out. Rogue turned to see Rahne and Monet arrive, with an annoyed Alex trailing after them. "I think ye should yield or ye'll find it a hard battle tah win." Rogue looked around helplessly before settling on a scowl on Remy. Remy just gave her an innocent look.

* * *

Remy felt that it was time to leave. The training session was entertaining and he had enjoyed it thoroughly, but something was in the air that made him wary. As he headed out of the training, congratulating his teammates and shaking hands with the others, he decided that he would set out tomorrow morning.

There was also something Remy needed to tell Scott and Alex, but he dreaded to do so. Telling them was out of the question before since he had such a huge audience from yesterday and then the training session so Remy pulled his brothers aside to one of the empty studies after taking a quick cold shower. Making sure that none of the other sorcerers were around, Remy closed the doors before he gave Scott and Alex a serious look.

"Is something wrong, Remy?" Alex asked as he ran a hand through his wet hair. Scott looked at Remy, his stance tense, the only gesture to show that he was nervous.

"Yeah," Remy said quietly. "I found mother." The other two went still and Remy looked down, not wanting to tell them but feeling compelled to do so.

"She's dead."

"Mother...?" Scott whispered.

"She's...?" Alex asked. Remy said nothing as he looked up to see both of their stricken expressions. It had been twenty-two years since their mother disappeared with Scott and Alex's father Christopher. Remy was eleven at the time and had been just barely old enough to take care of the others, pick-pocketing people and breaking into buildings just to make some money for food. Scott had helped as well until his powers manifested three years later.

"During those four years that I was wandering around," Remy said, "I managed to infiltrate a Phoenix base up in the north. It was just a spying job to check out whether the base was getting ready for war or something. It wasn't." Remy looked away from his brothers, feeling anger and helplessness burning through his body.

"It was a slave camp," he whispered. "I didn't know and I don't think my employer knew either."

"Was father...?" Alex asked hoarsely. Scott looked down, his fists clenched until his knuckles turned white.

"I didn't find Chris," Remy said. "From what I heard, he escaped earlier that day because they... those bastards they..." Remy choked, his hands tight in fists and he looked down, biting back the urge to cry.

"She was gutted," Remy continued hoarsely. "Apparently she and Chris tried to escape earlier in the week and were caught. Chris fought back and they killed her in front of him for that."

"Demons and sin," Scott swore, his voice rough. "Fucking demons and sin..." Alex slumped against the wall, tears falling from his eyes while Scott raised a fist to his mouth and bit down on a knuckle. Both of them were trembling and Remy looked away.

"The base was destroyed less than a month after that," Remy said. "I thought you'd both needed to know what happened to her before I left."

"You're leaving!" Alex nearly shouted, jerking his head up to stare at Remy. Remy's heart tightened at the sight of his tear-streaked face. "Already? But why?"

"People might come here looking for me," Remy explained, "and they may be looking for a fight. I'm not going to dump my troubles onto you, not after this."

"You're too noble for a thief," Scott said quietly. "But I understand. Excuse me." He straightened and walked towards the door.

"I'd like to be alone now," Scott said softly. He opened the door and left.

-  
-

_Only the dead remain on the field of battle. Will their memory be revered by the people who loved them or will they be cursed by the people who hated them?_

- Anonymous


	6. Chapter Five

Title: The Gathering Night   
Author: May Chang  
Genre: slash, action, AU(fantasy)  
Pairings: Havok x Polaris, Wolverine x Mystique, Rogue + Cyclops, Northstar + Iceman, past Gambit x Storm  
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.

* * *

**Chapter Five**_  
_

* * *

_The Dark God comes again for he is Death. The gods believe themselves to be almighty, but it is the Dark God who is the most powerful for even though he can be slain, he is Death and Death is eternal._

- Teachings of the Dark Riders

-  
-

Remy didn't see Scott or Alex for the rest of the day, but then again he didn't really make any attempt at finding either of them. Both needed the time to mourn for their mother and Remy felt that at the moment, he wasn't their favorite person at the moment. He spent the rest of the day flirting with the girls - only Rogue seemed annoyed at him and that he found interesting - and talking to boys about girls. By nightfall, he'd only gotten glimpse of Scott and Alex, the former alone and the latter in the company of Lorna.

Remy also noticed Rogue glancing over at Scott, a concerned look upon her face.

He retired to his room early that night, not wanting to invade in his brothers' space and hoping that Rogue would be there for Scott. He entered his room and closed the door, bolting it shut. He stared at the door, feeling numb for some reason before he realized that he wasn't alone. Remy looked up and to his right, his eyes meeting another. A strange man stood there in the corner of his room, red eyes glowing brightly in the dark and his white hair a stark contrast to his black skin.

"Who are you?" Remy demanded, pulling a couple cards out and charging them up. A magenta light glowed and Remy could feel himself go cold as he stared at the man before him. He couldn't make out the other's face, but for a moment Remy thought he knew him. "What are you doing here?"

The man did nothing and in another instance, he was gone. Remy stared in surprise before he walked towards the place where the stranger was and saw nothing.

_Am I going insane?_ He wondered as he stopped charging the cards and put them away. _Perhaps it's just lack of sleep or maybe it's just nerves. Yeah, nerves._

Looking around one last time, Remy got ready for bed and slipped under the covers.

* * *

_"You're a fool," he said as they stood on the battlefield, surrounded by corpses. "You should know better than to be a conqueror." _

_"Shut up," the other said hoarsely, kneeling down and brush away the hair from one of the bodies. A young girl, barely fourteen, stared away sightlessly at the other dead. "Just shut up, Death." He laughed at him, a sad laugh as he watched the other. _

_"You screwed up, Magnus," he said, "and you know it. Gaia is not for one people, but for all." _

_"Shut up!" _

_"I only speak the truth," he continued, backing away and giving Magnus a mock bow. "You wanted too much, Magnus and this is the price you pay." Magnus said nothing and he didn't either as he turned and walked away. He knew his demons were hungry, but told them all to wait until Magnus left. That was the one small respect he will give to the dead and their mourner. _

_He looked up into the blue sky and--_

--jerked awake in the darkness once again, breathing hard and feeling cold. Remy shivered under the covers as he stared up at the ceiling once again. The dream had been strange, as though it was a memory rather than some bizarre nightmare.

_And what was Erik doing there? In fact, why was I calling him Magnus?_

He curled up under the covers and tried to go back to sleep, only to find it impossible. With a sigh he sat up and threw off the covers. The cold was seeping away and Remy was glad as he pulled on a pair of pants and threw on a shirt. Remy opened the door to the balcony and stepped out into the cool night, staring out at the darkened streets of Wehles and breathing in the crisp air.

Something was happening and he didn't know what it was.

"You seem troubled." Remy turned towards the voice, looking up at the room to see Erik there, wearing a long robe. Remy shrugged and watched as Erik floated off the roof and landed next to him. For a moment, Remy wanted to tell him to go away, leave him alone and then he wondered why. Erik had done nothing to him and in fact, had helped keep his brothers away from the guards.

"Just... strange dreams," Remy replied after a moment. "And I get the feeling that something is going to happen." Erik nodded in response as he crossed over to look out from the balcony.

"Destiny is weaving yet another pattern on her loom," Erik said. It was a strange answer and Remy gave Erik a confused frown. Erik didn't respond and Remy looked away after a moment.

"Do you...?" Remy started slowly. "Do you know a man name Magnus?"

"Yes," Erik replied, turning his head slightly to give Remy a curious look. "I know many men named Magnus."

"Do you know one who was in a battle?" Remy asked. "One where he was called a would-be conqueror, and... well, I think he knew a priest of the Dark God. Demons, I think it was the Dark God himself." There was silence from Erik and Remy looked up to see Erik studying him, his stance tense and a serious look on his face.

"Do you?" he pressed.

Erik never replied when an explosion rocked the Institute. They stumbled before Erik shot up into the sky and towards the sound of the explosion. Remy ran back into his room, grabbing a few packs of cards and his staff and raced out of his room. Making his way through the halls, he turned a corner and was instantly slammed by another body. He flew through the air and crashed into a wall. Gasping for breath, Remy looked up to see a man floating in the air.

"Where is it?" the man demanded.

"Nice to see you too, Northstar," Remy wheezed as he stumbled onto his feet.

"Where is it, Gambit?" Northstar nearly shouted. "Where did you hide it?" Remy just made an obscene gesture at him and Northstar was on him in an instant, a punch sending him to the floor again.

"Do not play with me, Gambit!" he shouted.

"I'll play with you," a voice called out brightly. A huge chunk of ice crashed into Northstar's back and he hit the floor. Remy looked up to see an iced-up Bobby slide into view. Bobby looked down at Remy. "Get out of here!"

"What? No!" Remy replied hotly. This is my problem, Bobby! You don't need to get into this!"

"Yeah, well, tough luck," Bobby said and shoved Remy away before he created an icy wall between them. Remy got back onto his feet and slammed his fist against the wall.

"Bobby! Demons and sin, Bobby, what in the Dark God's name are you doing?" Remy shouted.

"He's doin' what he's trained tah do!" a woman snapped. Remy turned to see Rogue and Kurt, both looking rather frazzled. "Leave 'im alone an' help us!" Remy nodded and he quickly followed the two towards the battle.

* * *

There was an army storming the Institute as Magnus had feared. Searching through the horde of people, Magnus could feel his heart sink at the sight of the banner of the Phoenix Queen.

_Was our plan exposed?_ he wondered for a moment before turning towards Xavier's study. He hoped that he'd be able to reach Xavier there, or at least Emma on his way.

_/ Magnus/_ Relief rushed through him before he focused on the mental voice.

_What is it, Charles?_

_/ They're seeking Remy for some reason. /_ Xavier said, his mental voice worried. _/ I do not know why, but the Speaker's sorcerers have all come seeking him. /_

_What of the children and the Speaker's minions?_ Magnus asked as he stalked through the halls. He could smell the metal in the air, and he stopped. Armed men burst through a door and charged at him. Magnus quickly raised a hand and pulled away their swords, earning gasps of surprise from the zealots before he slammed all the swords into them, blade first. He could feel Xavier cringe in the back of his mind, recoiling from the violence.

_/ They seem more intent on finding specific people. /_ Emma joined in. She sounded angry and Magnus did not blame her. _/ I don't think they'll hurt any of the children, but I believe someone may have tipped off the Speaker about us. /_ Magnus said nothing as he continued on his way, using his powers to pull the swords out of the bodies and taking them with him. He continued through the halls, looking for the students and viciously killing those who stood in his way until he met up with Logan and Raven.

"Nice of you tah join us, Erik," Logan growled as he pulled back a bit. He was covered in blood as was Raven, who just scowled at the armed men. She held two blades in her hands, her stance ready for the second wave to arrive.

"Have either of you seen Remy?" Erik asked as he looked around. Raven shook her head while Logan snorted.

"Does he have something to do with this?" Raven asked, her voice low and angry. Erik shrugged as he raised the swords up, blade towards the enemies.

"Charles said the sorcerers are all looking for him," Erik said as he sent the swords into the zealots, wincing slightly at the screams coming from him. Logan roared and charged right into them, claws out and slashing like a beast. Raven also joined in the fray, ducking and jumping away from swords and going right into her attacker's space, a knife ruthlessly slashing across a neck or stabbed deeply into their stomach.

_/ He's here/_ Charles said suddenly, anger and fear flooding into Magnus's mind. Caught off guard, Magnus stepped back in time to avoid a sword. He used the other's momentum by using his power to yank the blade forward and the armed man fell heavily onto the ground. Magnus continued by dropping the blade into the man's back, ignoring the scream it elicit.

_Charles?_

_/ Erik! We need you at the gate/_ Emma said sharply.

_But--!_

_/ The Shadow King is here. /_ she said, her tone tight. _/ Xavier has that situation under control, but that means I have one less eye on what's going on. /_

_What's at the gate? _Magnus asked, frowning as he absently pulled the swords of the fallen and ran them through another group of soldiers. Raven stepped back to breathe, nodding a thanks to him; Logan had disappeared, but the screams coming from down the halls told them that he was still alive.

_ / Reinforcement. / _she replied._ / My Hellions are at the front handling the main group, but they could use a hand before Cassidy and Fury gets here. / Cassidy and Fury? When did you--_

_/ Erik, please/ _Magnus gave a mental agreement before he turned to look at Raven. She was looking at him and that was when he realized that no more people were coming in after them. Logan stepped through the door, covered in blood and looking extremely annoyed.

"What's going on?" Raven asked.

"Cassidy and Fury are coming," Magnus replied. "Emma wants me at the gates to help her Hellions hold off the main force until his people come. Logan, I want you to come with me. Raven, see if you can find the others and have them secure the building and check on the children. After that, check on Xavier; he's handling another situation and I don't want him defenseless."

"Yes," Raven said with a nod. She quickly turned and gave Logan a hard kiss before she left the room. Magnus and Logan then left in the other direction towards the gate.

* * *

The three slowed down at the sight of the armed men with a purple-haired woman in front of them. The armed men were different from the others, wearing dark clothing instead of armor and wielding a narrower blade than the others. Remy recognized them, especially the woman and gave a mental grimace.

"Psylocke, still looking as beautiful as ever," he called out, pulling out some cards and charging them up. Rogue tensed even more while Kurt gave him a surprise look. Psylocke just glared at him.

"Where is it, Gambit?" she demanded.

"And you're still as charming as ever," he replied. "How about you just take your people and get out of here, Psylocke? These people have nothing to do with us."

"Give me the key then and we'll leave," she said, pointing her blade at him. Rogue and Kurt both looked at Remy, who just narrowed his eyes.

"You'll understand if I don't quite believe you," he said. "Maybe I should have gotten that promise out of Northstar. At least he still has something known as honor."

"Kill them," Psylocke said imperiously. "Kill them all."

"Thanks a _lot_," Kurt growled out before he began teleporting, appearing before one and kicking him then teleporting to another and attacking him. Remy flung out his cards, watching them exploding and throwing some of the men back while Rogue picked up a sword of one of the fallen and wading right into the fight.

The hair on the back of his neck suddenly stood up and Remy jumped back, just in time before Psylocke's blade slashed through the air where Remy's neck would have been. He ducked and kicked out, hoping to sweep her off her legs, but with no such luck. He flicked out a card and charged it up, ready for her. She jumped away, her blade ready before she charged at him again. He dodged her charge and took the opportunity to fling the card at her, hearing her scream as it exploded at her back.

Remy turned his attention to the other battle, swinging his staff and batting down the attacker. Looking around, he saw that Kurt was fine, teleporting here and there without any trouble, but Rogue was having a bit of a problem on her end. Remy pulled out some cards and threw them at them, causing them to be thrown away from the woman. Rogue glanced over to him and gave a curt nod before turning her attention back to the battle. Remy smirked and was about to go back to fighting when a body slammed into him. Surprised he looked up to see Psylocke on him, a hand on his throat and the other raised in a fist with a purple energy surrounding it and looking very much like a blade.

"Where is it, Gambit?" she hissed. "Tell me and I won't scramble your brain into a pile of mush!"

"Well, I'd tell you," Gambit drawled, "but I don't think I will." Psylocke's face was of pure outrage when Kurt suddenly appeared and kicked her in the face. Remy couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at the scent of brimstone as he got up.

"Thank you, Kurt," he replied. Kurt responded with a salute and teleported away. Psylocke flipped onto her feet and got into a defensive stance as she looked at Remy warily. Her eyes suddenly widened and she looked away, a scowl on her face before she looked back. She barked out an order in a different language and took off away from him. Remy blinked in confusion when the other men ran past him, all following her.

"What's going on?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Ah'm not sure, but Ah dunno if Ah like it," Rogue replied, approaching him. He turned to see her wiping away the blood away from her face while Kurt checked on the bodies in the hall. The sound of running footsteps came and they all turned, wary of who was coming when Raven appeared.

"Momma!"

"Mother, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Raven said. "Are you alright?"

"The people we were fighting just took off," Kurt replied, sounding puzzled. "We're not sure why." Raven frowned before she nodded.

"Please secure this wing," she ordered, "and then do a quick sweep of the south. Scott and the others are on the east end and will be meeting you at the south."

"Yes, momma," Rogue said. Raven then turned to looked at Remy, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. Remy ignored her and followed Rogue and Kurt down the hall.

--------------------

"There's a lot of them," Kitty said as she phased into Xavier's study. Scott looked at her and nodded before he looked at the others. Hank, Piotr and Monet were also in the room, the last one giving Xavier a worried look. Xavier had his eyes closed, a look of concentration on his face as he did battle on the astral plane.

Scott and Hank were the first to arrive to Xavier's study to make sure he was alright. They would have left when Xavier suddenly jerked, his eyes wide in surprise before he screwed them shut and said nothing.

"What's going on?" Scott asked, looking at Hank worriedly. The blue-furred sorcerer just shrugged in response.

_/ He's doing battle on the astral plane. /_ Emma said.

"Emma?" Both Scott and Hank looked up at the ceiling.

_/ Boys, I'm not on the ceiling. /_ she replied. _/ Look out the window; my Hellions and I are at the gates. Stay with Xavier. He won't know what's going on in the real world and that makes him an easy target. /_

"Yes, Emma," the two replied. Shortly after, Piotr, Kitty and Monet arrived. Monet was the only one covered in blood; Piotr was still in his metal form and Scott really doubted that blood would be able to spatter onto Kitty since she could phase.

Scott looked out the window again, seeing even more people trying to battle their way through the gates. Emma and the Hellions were doing a good job repelling them, but they seemed in need of back-up. Swords suddenly flew out of the hands of the soldiers who were then run through by them. Erik floated into the battle, a dangerous look on his face.

"I don't think they'll be needing our help," Piotr said, looking slightly sick.

"Probably," Scott replied. "I--"

"People are coming," Monet interrupted, her hands pulling out two short swords and getting into battle stance. Hank and Piotr were instantly by Monet's side, making sure to get themselves between the door and the professor. Scott took up position by Xavier, a hand up to his visor. Kitty poked her head through the wall and jerked back with a nod.

"She's right," Kitty said, backing away. "There's a lot of them."

"I'm glad the study is big," Monet said.

"Verily," Hank added. The door slammed open and a group of masked armed men stepped in, swords out and ready to fight. A purple-haired woman stood in the middle, sword ready and an annoyed look on her face.

"Kill the old one," she ordered. "He's the one we're after."

"I think not," Scott said and fired. He hit one and his beam slammed the man back, taking out a few others. Monet went right for the purple-haired one, a battle-cry leaving her lips while Hank, Piotr and Kitty all waded right into the fray. Scott continued to fire, moving himself in front of the professor.

The temperature suddenly plummeted and the men in the halls were suddenly encased in ice. Bobby slid in, an ice shield up and collided with those who he missed, bowling them over.

"Whoo-hoo! Baddies on ice!" he crowed. Hank snorted in amusement as he slammed a foot into one of the men and flipped onto the ceiling. He grabbed two of the men and slammed their heads together before he let them go.

"It is good to see you, Robert," Hank called out as he flipped back down on to the ground and into a defensive crouch. "Your humor is sorely needed in this battle."

"Yeah, I know," Bobby said, as he encased a few more people in ice. He ducked when Scott fired at him, hearing a surprised grunt from someone. He glanced back to see the man slam into one of the encased soldier and slump down onto the ground unconscious. "Demons! Scott, warn me next time you do that!"

"That would be warning the other," Scott replied, turning his head and firing at those who were trying to overcome Piotr. Piotr gave no response, smashing his fists into the soldiers' faces.

"Courtesy here!" Bobby said. "I-- whoa." Bobby trailed off as he watched Monet send the purple-hair woman flying into the wall by Scott and the professor. Monet flew right after her, knife out, but the woman was able to grab her hand, stopping her. Scott turned his head, but didn't fire. Hank, Piotr and Kitty were finishing those who were left and Bobby entered the room, balls of ice ready in hand.

"M!" Scott said. Monet suddenly flipped onto her back, pulling the woman up with her. The woman was surprised and Scott took the time to fire at her. She smashed into the bookcase, causing books to fall on her. She struggled up onto her feet, glaring at them and a purple butterfly suddenly appeared on her face.

"Oh no, you don't!" a voice came. She jerked her head up just as cards flew at her, causing explosions and sending her reeling back towards the window. Kurt suddenly appeared and kicked her hard in the chest, sending her smashing through the window. Remy and Rogue ran in, Rogue going straight at Scott while Remy went to the window. He watched as the woman landed on some of the armed men before she looked up with a scowl. He just grinned and gave her a lazy salute before turning back at the others.

"Are you okay?" he asked, scanning the room. He was most amused by the scene of people encased in ice.

"We're fine," Scott replied tightly. "We can't move the professor though. Emma said that he was in an astral battle."

"Damn," Remy said with a frown. He looked outside, watching the battle. "The Institute is secured and the kids are alright, but we need to get down there."

"Piotr, Hank an' Ah will stay," Rogue replied, crossing her arms. "The rest of you will go an' help 'em."

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked worriedly.

"He needs protection," Rogue replied, "an' Ah won't be able tah do much anyway."

"Alright," Scott replied with a nod. "M, Nightcrawler, Kitty and Bobby, you four get down there and help. Remy and I will join up as soon as we can."

"Yes, oh great and fearless leader, sir!" Bobby said with a salute before he and Kitty slid down to the battle. Kurt disappeared in a cloud of smoke while Monet flew out. Scott gave Rogue one last look before he and Remy ran out of the room.

* * *

"This isn't looking good!" a Jamie shouted as he punched out one of the men.

"No shit!" another Jamie yelled.

"Stop coming, you bastards!" a third Jamie yelled. "Dark God take them, they all have a bloody death-wish!" Alex and Lorna said nothing as they stood back to back, blasting the enemy. Rahne and Paige, who was now in a metal-form, were in the middle of another group of soldier, slashing and punching at them. Magnus and Logan were in another area, the former throwing men away from them and the latter slashing and hacking away at the soldiers.

Jay was in the sky, wielding a mace and diving into the fray at times to knock men down. He took off into the sky when the arrows began to fire at him. Kurt was suddenly there, appearing in a blue smoke and kicking some of the men before disappearing again. Monet barreled into them before landing and pulling out her swords. Kurt appeared again and they stood back to back in the group.

Meanwhile the men who were trying to get through the gates were all encased in ice. Bobby and Kitty landed in between the gates and those who were already on the ground.

"Ha ha! I rule," Bobby said with a grin, patting his handiwork. Kitty rolled her eyes as she got into a battle stance. Balls of ice formed in Bobby's hand and he threw them at the men, grinning at the sound of them hitting. He and Kitty then joined into the battle.

Explosions sounded from the door and Remy charged out, staff in hand and throwing out cards. Behind him Scott fired his red fire, throwing men back as he walked out and stood at the door, keeping guard. Emma appeared besides him, a sword in hand and panting from the fight.

"Nice of you to join us," she said, wiping the sweat from her face. Scott just nodded before turning his head and firing at another group of people. Magnus and Lorna flew up into the air, swords and arrows following them. There were sounds of surprise before the two sent all the weapons raining down upon the soldiers. Screams filled the hair and Emma winced.

"Nice to know that one of our sorcerers going to become ruthless without my help," she murmured.

"This needs to end soon," Scott said tightly. "We can't keep this up."

"I agree," Emma replied. "Unfortunately I'm not strong enough to tell them to all go away. Cassidy had better show up soon or I'm going to murder him."

--------------------

The fight was looking pretty grim for Remy as he stumbled back. The zealots really didn't have the right training, but even they knew where to stick a sword at. Remy managed to knock around a few before throwing more cards at the others. He eventually backed himself up to where Alex, Lorna and many Jamies were.

"Got any good tricks to get us out of here?" one of the Jamies asked, sounding tired.

"Can't think of any right now," Remy replied tightly. "And I'm almost out of cards."

"Damn it, I'm not going to die by the hands of religious zealots!" another Jamie growled angrily. "I want to die in bed with a beautiful woman!"

"Or a sexy man!" a third Jamie piped up.

"O-kay," a fourth Jamie said, sounding embarrassed. Remy couldn't help but chuckle at that before he slammed his staff into another soldier.

Lightning ripped through the sky and Remy looked up in surprise. The night sky had been clear before, but now it was cloudy. The sound of thunder was the only warning anybody had before lightning struck, scorching the earth and taking out some of the Phoenix Queen's fighters. There were shrieks of fear and the smell of burnt skin and hair filled the air. Remy turned and--

_ --saw her floating just above the ground, the wind sweeping her hair up and causing her dress to float in the air. Her eyes were as white as her hair and she had a look of anger as she glared at both himself and the other. _

_"What do you think you are doing?" she demanded, her voice silky and powerful at the same time. He suddenly felt guilty then wondered why as this was the first time he had met her. The other, a red-hair woman glared back at her. _

_"Stay out of this, Ororo," the redhead said, her voice angry. "He's killing our people! I will not stand for that!" He turned his attention back at her and scowled. _

_"Life must eventually end, Phoenix," the goddess replied. "That is true throughout the universe. Even you must know that." _

_"Yes, but--!" _

_"Phoenix!" The red-head winced, but she continued to glare at the other. Ororo then turned her attention to him and he felt the cold slip away for a moment. She finally landed on the ground and walked up to him, ignoring the hiss from Phoenix. _

_"What are you doing here on Gaia?" she asked. _

_"I was born here," he replied. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" Phoenix crossed her arms, glaring at him while Ororo gave him a curious look. _

_"I too was born here and yet I have never met you," she replied. He smiled in response and took a step back, giving her a mock-bow. _

_"No one ever notices the shadows," he replied. "A wonder since the shadow comes only when there is light." _

_"Who are you?" Phoenix demanded angrily. _

_"You already know my name," he replied, "but I suppose one such as yourself can never understand what I am." _

_"He is Death," Ororo said quietly. Phoenix's eyes widened in surprise as he turned to look at the white-hair goddess. He stepped up to her, watching as her eyes widened in surprise before narrowing in outrage at his impudence. He smiled and--_

--was back in reality, reeling from the memory. He shook his head in confusion, ignoring the look of concern from the others as he wondered about the waking dream. It frightened Remy that it had occurred during a fight for his life. Remy looked up to see a sorceress up in the sky, her white hair and cape billowing in the wind and an angry expression on her face.

It was the priestess from the temple and Remy could feel his jaw drop not from the sight but the realization that she was in his waking dream.

"How dare you?" Storm called out, her voice angry. "How dare you attack a school for children!" Lightning struck again and wind battered the enemy soldiers while the others watched in fascination.

"Retreat!" a man bellowed. Remy turned to see Northstar and Aurora floating above the gates. "Retreat!" The soldiers all turned and rushed towards the gate, circling those who were encased and into the streets. Psylocke leaped on top of the ice black, turned and glared angrily at them.

"Next time, Gambit!" she called. "We will have that key!" She turned and leaped off the block, running alongside the men. Northstar and Aurora raised a hand and clapped it together, sending a bright light that blinded Remy. Squeezing his eyes shut, Remy blinked and tried to get rid of the stars that blinded him. When he could see, he looked up and saw that everyone was gone. The priestess landed and walked to them, a worried look on her face as she looked at them all.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"We are," Scott replied. "Thank you for your help." Storm gave him a smile.

"EMMA! ERIK!" Rogue suddenly bellowed in a panic. They all turned to see her at the window. "COME QUICK! THERE'S SOMETHIN' WRONG WITH THE PROFESSOR!" Magnus quickly wrapped his arms around Emma and flew into the air to the study. Monet and Lorna also took off into the air, the former grabbing hold of Scott's hand and followed after. The others, save for Remy and Storm, ran back inside the Institute.

"We should go," she said, giving the window a concerned look.

"Of course, Stormy," Remy replied. He smiled at the annoyed look she shot him before they followed the others into the building.

--------------------

"Charles? Charles, are you alright?" Magnus asked worriedly as he and Emma landed inside the study. Emma was instantly at Xavier's side, pushing away Rogue, Hank and Piotr as she placed a hand on Xavier's shoulder. Raven was on the side, a concerned expression for once on her face than her usual look of disdain. Monet, Scott and Lorna all landed in as Xavier waved off Emma and gave Magnus a smile.

"I'm fine, my friend," he replied

"What d'yah mean, yer fine?" Rogue asked, her voice breaking. "Yah can't walk!" There was silence in the room as the others looked at Xavier in shock.

"An unfortunate outcome to the battle," Xavier said with a sigh.

"It's... it's just for the moment, right?" Scott asked, sounding worried. "You just need some rest and everything will be fine again, right?" The door opened and the others came in, Logan moving away from them and heading right for Raven. Xavier turned his head to smile at them before spying Storm through the crowd. His eyes widened in surprise before he gave a minute nod to her.

"Professor? Are ye alright?" Rahne asked. The others all looked just as worried.

"I'm fine," he replied. "Just relax and--"

"Charles," Emma said, causing him to stop and look at her. Her lips were tight and she was giving him a steady look. "You need to tell them."

"Professor?" Alex asked. Xavier looked at them all and then sighed.

"I achieved victory over the Shadow King from our astral battle," he replied. "Unfortunately it would seem that he has robbed me of the ability to walk, perhaps for good." There was a gasp from Kitty and Rahne, while Bobby, Alex and Jamie all exchanged looks of concern. Magnus gave him a frown while Emma shook her head. Rogue looked ready to cry and Xavier reached out and patted her gloved hands.

"Do not worry," he said in a comforting tone. "That is the outcome of some battles. I would give up the ability to walk if only to protect you all."

--------------------

When Xavier said the Shadow King, Remy suddenly felt angry. He blinked in surprise at the response, wondering why he would hate a man so passionately having never met him before. Looking around the room, he saw that the students were all upset, as were Emma and Magnus. Raven and Logan didn't seem as upset, but Remy could feel the anger and distress they were projecting. Remy frowned to himself, a hand raising up to cover up his mouth, as he wondered how he could feel emotions.

"That is most troubling," Storm murmured, her voice tight. "I had not expected him to come here." Remy looked at her, seeing a serious expression on her face. She then looked up at him, crossing her arms.

"They were looking for you," she said quietly. "Why?"

_"She's looking for you," she said, her arms crossed and an annoyed expression on her face. "What did you do this time, my love?"_

"Information," he replied, confused by the strange memory. Storm frowned. He suddenly took her hand and leaned forward, brushing his cheek against hers.

"You shouldn't frown, Ororo. It doesn't suit you," he whispered into her ears. She went still and he straightened, taking in the shocked expression on her face before he frowned at her.

"Stormy? Are you okay?" he asked worried. He could feel her confusion and surprise before she nodded.

"Yes," she said slowly. "Yes, I'm fine, Gambit." He gave her a questioning look before he turned his attention back to the event in the study.

-  
-

_The Dark God looked up into the night sky to see the Storm Goddess upon her chariot, pulled by four of her thunder horses and dropped to his knees for he had never seen such a beautiful woman as she. _

- The Xavier Manuscript


	7. Interlude I

Title: The Gathering Night  
Author: May Chang  
Genre: slash, action, AU(fantasy)  
Pairings: Havok x Polaris, Wolverine x Mystique, Rogue + Cyclops, Northstar + Iceman, past Gambit x Storm  
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.  
Author's Note: This mini-chapter was suppose to be posted with the last chapter, but for some reason wouldn't let me upload it. :fume:

This is just an interlude of what happened with Bobby and Jean-Paul, and how Ororo just happened to be there at the Institute (plus it gives me time to figure out where to go from here. :p ) Thank you all for reading the fic thus far:D

* * *

**Interlude I**

* * *

"Get out of here!" Bobby snapped at Remy as he watched the intruder get up slowly. 

"What? No!" Remy retorted. "This is my problem, Bobby! You don't need to get into this!"

"Yeah, well, tough luck," Bobby said and shoved Remy away before he created an icy wall between them. He ignored Remy shouts at him as he faced down the other sorcerer. "Hey, hey, **hey**! There is _no need_ to go around and trashing this place! I happen to live here, you know!"

"Get out of my way," the intruder growled out. "He must die."

"Okay, sure, Remy can be a _little_ annoying, but that doesn't constitute into killing him," Bobby replied, dropping the temperature in the area. He could see the intruder's breath as ice began to form everywhere. "How about you just take a nice deep breath, calm down a bit and realize maybe you could be wrong?"

"You dare?" the intruder shouted and Bobby was suddenly punched in the jaw. Staggering a bit, Bobby was battered with fists from the man. A part of his mind was glad that he was in ice-form at the moment; he really didn't want to have all those bruises the next day. "The Speaker hears the command of our lady the Phoenix Queen! You who defy the one true goddess and her prophet shall not live!" Bobby was able to tackle the intruder into the wall behind him and encase him from the neck down in ice. Staggering back against the other wall, he watched as the man struggled to get out.

"You know, I am _so _glad this is a dead end," Bobby said. "I don't think I'm up to another round of getting my ass kicked." The intruder gave no response; Bobby didn't think he would anyway. Tilting his head slightly, Bobby couldn't hear anything on the other side of his ice wall.

"I don't hear anything out there," he mused, "and you're on ice. I think I'm safe for the moment." He de-iced and sat down on the floor with a sigh.

"You know, I really wasn't expecting to have to fight with people yet," Bobby said in a conversational tone. "I mean, I've been trained to help people, but I've never really thought I'd have to fight other sorcerers like you. Of course it helps when you're spouting shit about the Phoenix Queen and all that. I don't know about you but all the religious crap isn't for me since it doesn't constitute as real. I mean, have you actually really seen a god or a goddess? There's only four that we know of, and one of them is dead and the other one is locked up somewhere. So that leaves the Storm Goddess and the Gray Lord and I have yet to see either of them."

"Do you always talk this much?" the man asked acidly.

"Just to people who need to get the stick out of their asses," Bobby replied cheerfully. "So that's usually Sc-Cyclops and Havok- Cyclop's more of a pole and Havok is a tree because he keeps thinking that I'm going to steal Polaris away from him, which is total bullshit since I still don't really know if I like men or women more at this point - oh, and sometimes Wolverine when he's around, because his social skills is like totally shot - hey, he hangs around with Ms. Da--er, Mystique all the time and she's not what you call the greatest conversationalist ever - oh, wait, he's not much of one to begin with and--"

"Oh just shut up!" the man interrupted. Maybe it was just Bobby but he seemed a little bit amused. Studying his face a bit, Bobby deemed that it was just stress and the man was just annoyed at him.

"You know, we still need to introduce ourselves. You can call me Iceman, 'cause, you know, I work with ice," Bobby said with a smile. The man was silent, glowering at Bobby from beneath his black hair. "Hey, I don't deserve the silent treatment! Well, maybe I do since we're enemies." He got up and walked over to the intruder who just looked at him warily. Bobby didn't know why but he reached out and lifted the hair away from the man's ear and was greeted with a pointed ear. He noticed the man freezing at his touch, his mouth opening slightly in surprise before Bobby dropped his hand and backed away.

"You've got ears like Nightcrawler," Bobby said leaning back against the wall. "Of course, I don't think it'd be nice to call you an elf. Faerie would be kind of harsh too, you know. You don't have to give me your real name, you know. Give me someth--"

"Northstar," the man said. "Now shut up." His voice had wavered a bit and Bobby couldn't help but feel a bit concerned.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "You'll probably catch a cold from the ice, but like I said before, I _really_ don't want to get my ass kicked again so letting you go isn't in the near future." The man didn't respond and Bobby didn't have a chance to ask anything else as the windows suddenly shattered and a female sorcerer came through. Bobby didn't even have a chance to go into ice-form before he was thrown into the icy wall. He sat up, shaking his head to stop the ringing in his ears before he looked up again.

While he was down, the woman had freed Northstar and now the two were escaping through the window. Getting up, Bobby watched as the woman flew out the window and Northstar following. The man suddenly stopped and looked back at Bobby and, for a moment, Bobby felt a connection before he was out the window. Bobby iced up and ran up to the window only to find that no one was there.

He couldn't help but wonder what that feeling was as he melted away the ice.

* * *

The wind smelled of blood and Ororo frowned from atop of the temple. She closed her eyes and let the wind flow around her, trying to sense where the scent of blood was coming from. Blood and smoke wafted up towards her from they south and Ororo opened her eyes, taking off into the sky to see. There was indeed smoke coming from that direction and Ororo frown as she realized that it was the direction of the Institute. 

Magnus and Gambit were there.

Worry sent her flying towards the Institute and within moments she was there, eyes wide in shock at the scene before her. Armed men were flooding the gates, attempting to get inside of the Institute. Sorcerers fought valiantly against them and Ororo watched as one of the sorcerers encased the men at the gates in ice. She watched as Magnus ran men through with their own swords; she watched as Gambit threw himself in the battle, explosions knocking men off their feet and wielding his staff like a warrior.

She was angry all of a sudden, angry at the gall of these men who attacked a haven for children with powers, angry at them for following an evil goddess. The clouds rolled in, showing her anger to them before she blasted the earth below with a bolt of lightning. Shrieks of fear and the stench of burnt hair and skin rose up to her and Storm couldn't help but feel justify for her actions.

"How dare you?" Ororo called out, her voice angry. "I dare you attack a school for children!" She sent down another bolt of lightning, and watched in satisfaction when they all turned and ran. A woman called out to Gambit, a threat in her voice before she disappeared in the mob of fleeing soldiers. Two sorcerers flew up and a bright flash of light flared, causing her to shut her eyes. When she regained her sight, the enemies were gone.

She landed down on the ground and nodded to the young man with a visor over his eyes. She would have turned to talk to Magnus when a young woman from inside bellowed out his name, panic in her voice. Watching as he and others took off, she was soon left alone with Gambit.

"We should go," she said, looking at him.

"Of course, Stormy." She shot him an annoyed look and he just smiled in response.

They came into the conversation about Xavier losing his ability to walk and Ororo was overcome with sorrow. It was when he spoke about the battle with the Shadow King that Ororo felt troubled. She remembered the demon, one who fought constantly with Death in the past for control over the demons. When Death was lost in the battle, the Shadow King had thought himself victoriously and tried to control the demons. The demons turned on him and he was quickly exiled from the shadows. Ororo had no idea what had happened to him until now.

"That is most troubling," she murmured, her voice tight. "I had not expected him to come here." She saw Remy look at her and she crossed her arms as she looked back.

"They were looking for you," she said quietly. "Why?"

"Information," he replied after a moment's pause, looking strangely confused. Ororo couldn't help but frown at the answer and his body language. He suddenly took her hand and leaned forward, brushing his cheek against hers.

"You shouldn't frown, Ororo. It doesn't suit you," he whispered into her ears.

_"You shouldn't frown, my beloved," he said with a smile. He reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "It doesn't suit you."_

She went still, surprise racing through her as she watched him straightened up. He suddenly frowned at her with a worried expression.

"Stormy? Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, nodding slowly. "Yes, I'm fine, Gambit." He gave her a questioning look before he turned his attention back to the event in the study. She in turned study him from the corner of her eye and wondered.


	8. Chapter Six

Title: The Gathering Night   
Author: May Chang  
Genre: slash, action, AU(fantasy)  
Pairings: Havok x Polaris, Wolverine x Mystique, Rogue + Cyclops, Quicksilver + Storm, Northstar + Iceman, past Gambit x Storm  
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.  
Author's Note: I apologize for the long delay for this chapter. School has just started and I haven't had the time to finish writing up this chapter until now. I'm also going to apologize right now if it takes a while for chapters to be posted. This is my last semester up at college and I really need to get my act together before I graduated. :p

**

* * *

Chapter Six**

* * *

_  
Destiny is the ruler of the gods for even they cannot change what will be._

- Destiny's Diaries Vol. I

-  
-

"Magnus."

He looked up to see her at his door with a perturbed expression. Magnus frowned, already feeling stressed from the battle and what had happened to Xavier. Magnus had been most grateful when Sean Cassidy finally arrived with another old friend Nick Fury and some of his men. They quickly secured the building and had the watch drag the soldiers who had survived to battle to jail.

The dead were piled into carts and wheeled away.

From his window, Magnus could see the smoke rising into the sky as the bodies were burned. There were no classes today, the younger students still in shock and fear while the older students tiredly went to bed. Xavier was in his own room, drained from his battle in the astral plane, but Emma was conversing with Sean and Nick. What the topic was, Magnus had no idea since he retired to his own room shortly after he made sure Xavier was comfortable.

"Is something the matter, Ororo?" he asked, waving for her to enter.

"Gambit... This Remy, how well do you know him?" Ororo asked as she stepped in, closing the doors behind her.

"Not that well," Magnus said. "I was there to take his brothers here ten years ago and he just recently arrived to the Institute to visit."

"Has he said anything strange to you?"

"No. Why?" Ororo paced in his room, gnawing on her thumb with a confused expression on her face. Magnus sat down on the seat and tiredly watched her.

"He said something to me last night," she started. "It brought up old memories of... of him."

"Him?"

"Death."

"What did he say?" Magnus asked, his curiosity sparked.

"He said...," she said hesitantly, "he said that I shouldn't frown because it doesn't suit me."

"He is right about that," Magnus replied.

"He called me Ororo."

"And?"

"When we met, I told him my name is Storm," she explained. "He's been calling me Stormy ever since. He shouldn't know what my real name is." Magnus was quiet before he raised a hand to rub his temple.

"Remy did ask me an odd question last night," he mused. "He wondered if I knew a man named Magnus who tried to be conqueror." Ororo stared at him in surprise.

"That sounds a lot like you," she said slowly.

"I think it is me," he replied. He sat forward, hands folding together and elbows propped up on his knees. He rested his chin on his hands and looked blankly at her. "I think Remy is something more than what we think he is."

"He knew my name," Ororo said, "he knew about you. Do you think he is...?"

"It's possible," Magnus answered thoughtfully. "Phoenix has done it before, rising from the ash. why shouldn't he be able to do it as well?"

"The black spark behind the purple flames..." Ororo trailed off, eyes going distant. "I suppose the Dark Riders were correct on some aspect of him." "

Yes," Magnus agreed. "But will it still be our Death or will it be theirs? And more importantly, does he know about Her?" There was silence between the two before Ororo spoke again.

"Perhaps we should talk to Xavier and Emma tomorrow," she said softly. "They should know about this as well. For now, Magnus, you need sleep. It has been a long night." Magnus watched as she turned and walked to the door, opening it but pausing.

"He will fight alongside us," she said softly, looking back at him. "That I know for sure, Magnus." She turned and walked out the door, closing it behind her and leaving Magnus sitting in the chair with a thoughtful look upon his face.

* * *

Sean Cassidy grimaced at the condition the lawn sustained when he, Emma, Scott, and Nick finally finished securing the building, checking on all of the students and seeing to Xavier about his condition. He tiredly rubbed his face before turning to look at the other three. Emma looked slightly harried while Scott was rather disheveled, still having not the opportunity to change out of his torn and bloody clothes. Nick pulled out a cigar and lit it up, ignoring Emma's glare.

"So what were they after?" he asked. Emma shook her head.

"From what I could read off of them, they were all looking for Remy," she replied. "Something about a key, but from the rest of the soldiers running through the building, I think they were also after Xavier." Scott's lips thinned while Nick nodded. Sean frowned worriedly as he glanced up at the Xavier's study, the windows still shattered and revealing the mess the fight had left.

"What now?" Scott asked, looking at Emma.

"Well, for starters, I should leave," Remy said as he approached them. They all turned to look at him and Scott frowned. "Ah, ah! Don't say anything, Scott! You know that there's a chance that they may attack again because I'm here."

"But--"

"Where will you go?" Emma asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Don't know," Remy replied with a shrug. "Maybe go back to Neyaeil and help out in the cause. Anyway I won't be around for them to attack again."

"It probably won't work, young man," Sean said. "They be after the professor as well. I say ye be safer here with the others." Remy frowned as he looked back at Sean.

"He's right," Emma replied coolly. She raised a hand as Remy scowled at her. "You'll be safer here with the rest of us, Remy. This way we can plan our next move after we find out what they want from you."

"Just me?"

"Well, there is also Xavier," Sean said.

"He's the only one powerful enough to defeat the Shadow King," Remy said then blinked. Emma and Sean looked surprised at his words while Nick just raised an eyebrow. Scott frowned at his brother in confusion.

"Remy, how do you know that?" he asked.

"I'm... not sure," he replied uncertainly.

"Gambit." They all looked up to see Storm who landed next to Remy.

"Stormy, fancy seeing you here," Remy said with a smile.

"Erik and I would like to speak with you," she said, giving him an annoyed look. Remy glanced at Emma and the others, and she nodded.

"We're not done talking, Remy," she said.

"Far from it," he said before he followed Storm back inside.

--------------------

"You look like hell," Remy said as he and Ororo entered the study. Magnus looked up from the desk and glared at him. Remy paused in mid-step before continuing on and taking a seat before the desk. Ororo took the other seat and looked at the two of them with a serene expression. Magnus on the other hand just rubbed his eyes with his hand and sighed before he gave a flick of his hand. The doors bolted and the drapes closed rather suddenly that Remy jerked up from his seat and had cards in his hands.

"Sit down," Magnus grumped, gesturing to the seat. "I'm not going to kill you or anything. We would like to talk."

"Talk?" Remy said, looking at him warily before glancing at Ororo. She still sat in her seat with a serene look and Remy began to wonder about her. "What do you want to talk about?"

"You."

"Me?" Remy gave Magnus a confused frown. "You know about me."

"Do we?" Ororo said. "What we know presently is that you're a thief who seemed to have made powerful enemies."

"That sounds about right," Remy replied cheekily. Ororo looked amused while Magnus looked exasperated. "Look, why the hell do you want to know about me?"

"Why did you call her Ororo?" Magnus asked, gesturing to the priestess. Remy gave him a puzzled look.

"Ororo? Her name's Storm," he replied.

"You called me Ororo last night," she said softly.

"I did? I don't... think I did," Remy said slowly. He sat back and stared at the ceiling, eyes distant as he thought back to last night. "No, I never called you that name."

"Hm." Magnus and Ororo looked at each other before back at him. Remy had a feeling that the two of them knew something but weren't sure of. Ororo just sighed and her expression changed distant. He could feel the sadness radiating from her and wondered why she was sad.

"Remy." He switched his attention back to Magnus who just leaned back into his chair. "Remember that dream, the one with the would-be conqueror?"

"Yes?" Remy replied, leaning forward. "Did you find out something about him?" Magnus paused to study Remy before he nodded.

"Of course. He was the Gray Lord."

"Excuse me?" Remy said after staring at Magnus after a moment of silence, feeling rather flabbergasted. "What do you mean, he was the Gray Lord?"

"There was a time in the past," Magnus said, "when the Gray Lord thought Gaia was for his people, those we know now as sorcerers. Of course humans rejected that idea and there was a war. I believe Charles calls it the Cleansing."

"In those days, those who followed the Phoenix Queen were healers," Ororo said, shaking her head. "They would be soaked in blood day after day, and they were only protected by my people, those who follow the Storm Goddess."

"The demons ate well those days," Remy mused quietly. Magnus and Ororo gave him a startled look and he blinked at them before he realized what he had said. He straightened in his seat, eyes looking at the floor as he tried to figure out why he had said those words.

"...I suppose they did," Magnus said after a moment's silence. "It would have been inevitable; the Dark God's demons feasted on the blood of the fallen after all while his thieves would have found many valuables on their bodies." Ororo closed her eyes, a sorrowful expression on her face.

"They were fools," Remy said, leaning back and feeling amused. Magnus blinked while Ororo straightened and glared angrily at him.

"How could you say that!" she demanded. "They died in a war they believed in!"

"What they believed in was another's fantasy!" Remy shot back, angry at her, only not. He couldn't help but wonder why he was even saying these things to them. He started to apologize to Ororo. "Just because they had more power than any other humans does not give them the right to take what is not theirs to begin with, Ororo!"

Remy suddenly realized that he wasn't in control, that someone else was there, talking to them as though it was their body. He struggled to regain his control except it felt like he was trying to wade through mud. He looked at them, seeing their surprised reaction before Magnus narrowed his eyes.

"What have you done to the boy, Death?"

_Death?_ Remy thought, struggling still. _Who the hell is he talking to?_ His body went still and Remy could feel the confusion, the weariness coming from the other.

"Magnus? Ororo? What's going on?" Death whispered, his voice tired and confused. He rubbed his eyes before he looked at Magnus again.

"Death!" Ororo said, standing up and reaching out to touch his shoulder. He looked at her hand before trailing up her arm and settling on her face.

"Hello, 'Ro," he said. The slowness Remy had been feeling was suddenly gone and he was in control once again. Remy jerked away from the hand, throwing himself out of the chair and feeling his heart racing in fear.

"What the--" he started, shifting from foot to foot, looking between the two. "What the... _fuck_... just _happened_!"

"Remy," Ororo said, hands up and looking steadily at him. "Calm down. Please."

"Someone else was there," he said, gesturing to his head. "Someone else was _in_ my head, _talking_ to you! I couldn't do _anything_!" He started to pace, trying to shake off the adrenaline from the fear and panic, trying to calm himself. Ororo looked at Magnus worriedly before she looked back, stepped forwards and grabbed Remy by the shoulders. Remy jerked in response and opened his mouth to say something, only to be silenced by Ororo's kissing him on the lips. He blinked in surprise, his fear pushed down by the emotion, feeling the soft lips against his own before she ended it.

"Are you calm now?" she asked.

"...Kiss me again and I'll be halfway there," he replied dazedly. "Add in a bottle of whiskey and I'll be perfectly fine." She smiled at that and stepped away from him.

"What's going on?" Remy asked quietly. "What's happening to me?"

"We're... not sure, to be honest," Magnus said, scratching his cheek and looking rather unsure. "It's never really happened before, unless you count Phoenix."

"Phoenix?"

"The Phoenix Queen," Ororo said. "It's much easier to call her that. I am Ororo and this here is Magnus."

"But... I thought your name was Erik," Remy said, looking at Magnus.

"No, it's not," he replied. He stood up and held a hand out. "My name is Magnus, otherwise known as the Gray Lord. How do you do?"

"Oh," Remy said faintly, taking the hand and shaking it. He looked at Ororo. "And what about you?"

"Ororo," she replied with a smile. "I do believe you're a follower of mine."

"The Storm Goddess?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

"Are you alright, Remy?" Magnus asked, a concerned tone in his voice.

"I'm not sure," he replied. "The Institute was just attacked last night for something I have, I just found out that I have another person in my head, and just recently, I met the Gray Lord and the Storm Goddess. Considering I'm still haven't fainted yet from too much shock, I think I'm doing fairly well."

"About that other person in your head..." Ororo started.

"Okay?"

"We think it was Death. You may know him as the Dark God?"

"Oh. The Dark God's in my head?" Remy staggered to his seat and collapsed into it. "It could be... worse. I think. I better not tell my father I have the Dark God in my head though; I don't think I could take it if he has the Guild started worshiping me." Both Magnus and Ororo laughed quietly at that. Remy ran a hand through his hair before he looked up at Magnus and Ororo.

"I don't suppose we can continue this conversation later?" he asked. "This is... this is a little much for me right now."

"Of course," Magnus agreed. "You've had a long night. You should get some sleep."

"Yeah," Remy said, getting out of his seat. He walked unsteadily towards the door and opened it, but didn't leave. He looked back at the other two. "No one knows about...?"

"Just Charles," Magnus replied. "Emma calls be Magnus as well, but she doesn't know who I really am."

"And I'm betting you'd like this kept as a secret?"

"Please." Remy nodded in response and left. Magnus sat back down with a sigh as the door closed behind Remy. Ororo looked at that door before turning her attention back to Magnus.

"That went well," she said.

"Yes, it did," Magnus agreed.

--------------------

Remy bolted his door and staggered over to his bed. He sat down heavily and stared blankly at the floor, trying to wrap his mind around the conversation with Magnus and Ororo. After a while, he pulled off his boots, dropping them on the floor before stripping out of his shirt and dropping it by his boots.

He laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling before pulling the covers over him and closing his eyes. Perhaps he needed some sleep before he could think clearly again.

* * *

_Can you hear me? Can you hear my voice? _

_I can help you in the coming battle. _

_Who am I? Someone like you, I suppose. _

_My name? Call me Jean. _

_I'll be waiting for you in Nifelleim._

* * *

Remy woke up to the sound of knocking on his door and the sight of darkness. Blinking sleepily, he pulled off the covers and stumbled out of bed, unbolting the doors and opening it a crack. Light greeted his eyes and he blinked a few times to get use to it.

"Remy?"

"What?" he said sleepily as he opened the door wider. Alex was standing outside.

"The professor wants to see you in his room," Alex said. "Erik is also there, just so you know."

"Okay," Remy said with a yawn. "What about Storm?"

"She went back to the temple," Alex replied. His expression turned to one of puzzlement. "She also said something about getting ready for a trip."

"Uh? Okay," Remy said. "Let me get on a shirt and I'll go over there." Alex nodded and left. Remy left the door opened so he could see, grabbed his shirt and pulled it on before sitting down on his bed and pulling on his boots. He left his room, closing the door behind him and made his way down the hall towards Xavier's bedroom. He finally stood for it and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Xavier called out and Remy opened the door. Xavier and Magnus all looked up at his entrance and Remy closed the door behind him. Xavier was lying in bed, looking rather put out at the fact that he was in bed. Magnus was sitting next to him in a chair with a calm expression

"You wanted to see me?"

"Are you alright?" Xavier asked. "I hear that Magnus and Ororo told you many things this morning. Please, pull up a chair and sit."

"I think I'm doing a lot better now that I've slept on it," Remy said. He stepped forward, pulling a chair from the desk and bringing it next to Magnus. He sat down and leaned back, looking at Xavier. "How can you be sure it's even the Dark God in my head?"

"That is what we're about to find out," Xavier said. "Would you mind if I went through you mind?"

"Um..." Remy gave Xavier a wary look.

"I am just going to make contact with Death," Xavier said. "I won't go through any of your private thoughts."

"Okay," Remy replied after a moment. "What do I have to do?"

"Just close your eyes and let me do the rest," Xavier said with a smile. Remy gave one last wary look at Xavier before he nodded and closed his eyes. He didn't feel anything for a moment and he wondered if he wasn't suppose to. There was a slight noise and Remy frowned, straining to hear it.

_/ Can you hear me, Remy/ _

_Professor?_

_/ Yes. I am going to contact the other now. / _

_Okay._ Remy felt anxious now, wondering what would happen when Xavier met with the other. The darkness suddenly melted away and Remy found himself on the street of Trakia. It was empty of life and Remy began to walk forward, looking for people. There was a red hue over the place and Remy looked up to see instead of a clear blue sky a blood-red sky. Xavier suddenly appeared and Remy gave him a startled look.

"Professor Xavier?"

"Remy," Xavier greeted with a nod before he looked around. "This place is...?"

"Trakia," Remy replied. "Why are we here?"

"The other one likes this place," Xavier said. "He feels most comfortable here." Remy blinked at that and then looked up at the blood-red sky then back at Xavier. Xavier just shrugged in response.

"What now?" Remy asked.

"We look for him," Xavier replied. Remy nodded and the two began walking down the street, looking for the other. They finally reached the doors of a temple and Remy recognized it as the Storm Goddess temple he frequented regularly during his time in Trakia. He looked at Xavier before back at the doors and stepped up to it. He pushed open the doors and both he and Xavier entered.

They weren't in the temple; instead, they were on a battlefield, corpses on the ground with swords and spears lying around. Remy looked back and saw more death before he turned to look at Xavier. The professor's expression was tight.

"This... isn't good... Right?" Remy asked, feeling worried.

"I'd say not," Xavier replied. They made their way through the battlefield until they reached a lone figure. He had his back turned towards them, white hair that reach the middle of his back. He wore a black cloak and in his left hand, he held a scythe. Remy gingerly stepped over another body and stopped to look.

"You shouldn't be here," the other said quietly. "The demons will be here soon."

"Who are you?" Xavier asked, stopping next to Remy. "Why are you here?"

"Death. The Dark God," the other replied. He tilted his head back to stare at the blood-red sky. "You shouldn't be here."

"The Phoenix Queen is returning," Xavier said. Remy jerked his head to stare at Xavier in surprise. "Will you help us in repelling her forces?"

"Destiny has yet to speak to me," the Dark God replied.

"What does Destiny have to do with fighting the Phoenix Queen?" Remy demanded.

"Destiny controls the hand of Death," the Dark God said, looking down again. "I will not make a move until she tells me." "

That's bull-shit!" Remy exploded. Xavier winced at Remy's outburst. "There's a crazy goddess bent on world-domination out there and you're just going to stand here and do nothing? What about Magnus? What about Ororo?"

"...Ororo?" The Dark God turned his head slightly towards them, but Remy still couldn't see him through the white hair.

"Yes! Ororo! The Storm Goddess!" Remy said, taking a few steps forward. "She's going to be out there, fighting against the Phoenix Queen's forces! You may be able to come back from the dead because, I don't know, death's eternal or something, but Ororo might not make it! Did you ever think of that?"

"Ororo will fight again?" He turned and Remy came face to face with the Dark God. He froze at the sight of black skin and the eyes that looked so much like his own – red on black – and glowed eerily. And his face...

A mirror of his own.

"The demons are here," the Dark God said. Remy and Xavier looked away to see the shadows moving. Clawed hands appeared and twisted, ugly beings seemed to crawl out of the shadows. Remy stepped back next to Xavier, looking around warily. A groan floated to his ears and he looked down to see the hand of a corpse twitch before the corpse itself began to rise.

Remy jerked, his eyes opening as he nearly fell backwards off of his chair. Magnus threw a hand out, using his powers to catch the chair from falling complete backwards.

"Demons and sin!" Remy whispered hoarsely. "I hate--! I... fucking hate zombies!"

"What?" Magnus asked as he put the chair upright again. Remy leaned forward, pressing his hands to his face as he breathed deeply.

"Magnus," Xavier spoke, his voice even. "It was him." Remy looked up to see Xavier looking rather pale.

"Will he help us?" Magnus asked. Xavier shook his head.

"We're not sure," he replied. "He said Destiny has yet to talk to him. Remy seemed to made an impression on him though; I think Ororo should meet with him next time."

"Maybe," Remy said, shaking off the fear. "But I need to start packing tonight."

"Packing?" Xavier asked, blinking at Remy. "Where are you going?"

"Nifelleim."

"Nifelleim?"

"I had a... strange dream," Remy said. "Someone was calling me from Nifelleim. She told me that she would be able to aid us in the coming battle." He stopped and gave both Xavier and Magnus a hard look. "This coming battle... Is the Phoenix Queen coming back or something?"

"Destiny has said so," Magnus replied. "We are preparing ourselves for it."

"And nobody else knows about this?" Remy asked.

"The Speaker knows," Xavier said. "How she knows, we're unsure, but she has been gathering her forces for a while now. She is also the key to breaking the Phoenix Queen out of the cage Magnus had sealed Her in."

"Assuming they know where She is in the first place," Magnus added tightly.

"So you will be going to Nifelleim to find an ally against Her people?" Xavier asked. Remy shrugged in response.

"She told me her name was Jean," Remy said, "and she was in Nifelleim. I don't know who she is or what she does, but she sounds like she wants to help." Xavier and Magnus shared a look before they looked back at Remy.

"Are you willing to take some people with you?" Xavier asked.

"I suppose," Remy said slowly. "Who do you have in mind?"

"You worked quite well with Monet, Jamie and Rahne," Xavier said. "Add another to your team and take them with you to Nifelleim. They will help you greatly in your travels."

"And I will go with them," another voice said. They looked up to see the doors to the balcony open and Ororo stepped in, dressed in traveling gear and carrying a small bag. "I too have some business in Nifelleim."

"Are you sure?" Magnus asked, giving Ororo a worried look.

"I am always sure," she replied with a smile. She then looked at Remy. "When do we leave, my friend?"

-  
-

_Another journey begins. A dead god stirs from the grave as a young man looks for allies amongst his enemies. A piece hides in the icy lands of the north, one who brings the beginning of a new era, a new strand on the loom of Destiny._

- Destiny's Diaries Vol. I


	9. Chapter Seven

Title: The Gathering Night   
Author: May Chang  
Genre: slash, action, AU(fantasy)  
Pairings: Havok x Polaris, Wolverine x Mystique, Rogue + Cyclops, Quicksilver + Storm, Northstar + Iceman, past Gambit x Storm  
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.  
**  
**

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

_Gods and their children walk amongst the mortals and no one would be the wiser._

- Destiny's Diaries Vol. I

-  
-

Bobby nervously pulled at the straps of his bag, looking at the others for the journey ahead. He'd never been out of Wehles before and the idea of going to Nifelleim to find some person who supposedly would be helping them in the fight against religious zealots was a bit out there. He glanced back towards the Institute and wondered how Hank was going to do when he leaves for the journey.

He had been surprised when Remy approached him and asked him to join him and a few others to Nifelleim. He knew he worked well with Monet and Rahne, and got along quite well with Jamie. He also looked up to Remy who had a wicked sense of humor when it came to everything. They bantered with each before and Bobby was pleased that Remy actually understood references that no one else seemed to know.

Well, except for Jamie and Hank, but least they were in the same age group as himself. Oh, and Jay, but only because Bobby, Jamie and Hank were corrupting him. Paige wasn't very pleased to say the least.

The priestess Storm was another matter. He wasn't sure who she was and why she was coming. Sure, she saved them in the nick of time when those crazy people invaded the Institute, and sure, she was the priestess of the Storm Goddess temple and anybody who worships the Storm Goddess are definitely okay in Bobby's book, but what he really wanted to know was if he would be able to work with her in battle.

And to find out if she was single, but Bobby was pretty sure that there was something going on between her and Remy. Plus going to Nifelleim might give him a chance to see Northstar again.

Still Bobby just quickly packed some stuff - Rogue advised him on lots of warm clothes because "Momma said Nifelleim makes your icy self seem warm in comparison" but Bobby was pretty sure he could take it - and went to bed early because he knew that he wouldn't be able to get to sleep for a while. Morning found him sitting in the kitchen with Jamie and Rahne, all already dressed, all drinking coffee and quietly talking to one another excitedly. Monet arrived an hour later and gave them all a sleepy amused look.

They met up with Remy and Storm at the gates of the Institute, both of them already ready to set out. Erik, Emma, Alex and Scott were also there, the latter two talking quietly with their older brother.

"Professor Maximoff?" Bobby asked, looking at the older man. "Have you ever been to Nifelleim and do you know what to expect from there? I couldn't seem to get any good answers out of Logan and Ms. Darkholme except 'get ready to kick lots of ass' and lots of cursing of the cold." Emma gave Bobby an amused look with Erik chuckled.

"That sounds like them," Erik replied. "Well, it's not as cold as you'd think it is, for one. For example, the closer you get to the middle of Nifelleim, the warmer it gets because that area is filled with hot springs."

"Hot springs?" Storm and Monet chorused, brightening.

"Note to self: tell Remy to avoid hot springs," Jamie muttered under his breath, "or we'll never see those two again."

"Hear, hear," Rahne agreed. Emma's amused look was bordering onto a smile while Erik just chuckled again.

"Are we ready to head out?" Remy called out. Bobby and the others all looked up at the thief at the gates and nodded in response. Remy grinned. "Alright, let's go then!"

"You better come back, Remy!" Alex called out as Bobby and the others followed after Remy. Remy just gave a wave of his hand without looking back.

* * *

Neyaeil was still as busy as ever and Remy thought about visiting Curt's clinic before deciding against it. Rahne, Jamie and Bobby were looking around the city, looking rather awestruck, while Ororo and Monet just calmly followed after Remy. Remy glanced back at the three and grinned at them. 

"Keep an eye on your belongings," Remy said, "especially your purses. Neyaeil's full of thieves, you know."

"Right," the three chorused. Remy couldn't help but laugh quietly to himself as he looked forward again. They were heading to port to get on a boat hopefully headed towards Nifelleim. While most people would rather avoid Nifelleim, the country made lots of money from their hot springs, and no sane businessman would say no to a profit.

Remy frowned as they approached the docks, seeing more guards at the dock than usual. He slowed his steps as he warily looked around, looking for some sign as to why they were there or what had happened.

"Remy? Is something wrong?" Jamie asked as he looked at him.

"Too many guards," he replied, nodding towards the watch. "Something's happened. Hold on." Remy made his way over to a lone guard, glancing back quickly to make sure none of the others followed.

"Hello, friend," he called out to the man. The guard looked up at him and Remy mentally smiled at the sight of the young man. "I just got into town to catch a boat to Trakia. Is it always this busy with the watch?"

"Oh, no," the guard replied, shaking his head. "These past few days, there's been murder here at the docks. Lord Fisk has the place shut down until we catch the killer."

"So there's no chance I'd be getting on a boat to Trakia anytime soon, huh?" Remy said, giving the young guard a dejected look.

"Sorry," the guard apologized. "There's nothing I can do."

"Well, who do you think is the one doing this?" Remy asked. The young guard looked around before leaning towards Remy.

"A few of the dockhands have said that it's demons," the guard said quietly. "The bodies were said to be ripped apart and no human can do that. Some of the senior officers looked pretty green when they came back form seeing the bodies."

"Ripped apart?" Remy asked, eyes wide. "By the Storm Goddess, that must be the doing a demon!"

"We think so too," the guard said, nodding in response. "Although Captain Rogan thinks that it was a sorcerer, but we all think he just don't like them."

"I see," Remy replied. It's a good thing Logan isn't around then.

"I'm Private Peter Parker," the young guard said, holding a hand out.

"Robert Lord," Remy replied, using one of his aliases, as he shook the private's hand. "You don't mind telling us when the port's open?"

"You'll be the first to know," Peter replied with a grin. Remy grinned in response and walked away. His smile disappeared as he approached the others.

"We've got a problem," he announced quietly. "The port's been shut down."

"What? Why?" Jamie asked in dismay.

"Murder," Remy replied. "Come on, let's get to an inn and figure this thing out."

--------------------

"That is most disturbing," Ororo said, shuddering slightly from the news. "How could someone go around and kill those dockhands?"

"I don't know," Remy said, shaking his head. "And frankly, we're stuck here until the watch finds the killer."

The group was sitting in the main room, having just finished dinner. Jamie, Bobby and Rahne were having dessert while Monet, Storm and Remy sat there drinking, the first two sipping at juice while Remy chose to go with ale. Jamie sat up, the fork still in his mouth, with a thoughtful look on his face. Monet and Rahne both looked at him, and instantly both had a wary expression on their face. Bobby also looked up at Jamie, stopped chewing and slowly put his fork down as he began to look around the room.

"Bobby?" Remy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm looking for the exits," Bobby replied after he swallowed his bite. "Jamie has the Look. The Look is bad. Just ask Rahne and Monet." Remy and Ororo exchanged looks of confusion while Jamie gave them all a hurt look.

"What?" Jamie asked. "I can have an idea, right?"

"Yah ideas tend tah deal wit' chargin' headfirst in tah the gaping maw offa demon," Rahne replied. Monet nodded in agreement.

"Even _I_ find your ideas scary, and I'm the one who dyed Scott and Alex's hair pink!" Bobby added.

"You what?" Remy asked, eyes wide and smile on his lips. "Damn it, Bobby, you're going to need to tell me everything about your pranks on my brothers!"

"Um, I'd assumed you'd kick my ass for it?" Bobby replied uncertainly.

"Demons, no! I haven't been able to prank my brothers in _ten years_! I missed doing that stuff to them!" Remy said. Bobby grinned in response.

"About that idea of mine," Jamie started. Bobby, Monet and Rahne instantly glared at Jamie who held up his hands in defense. "Come on! Think about it! We need to get on a boat, but some psycho killer is out there, stopping us from doing that. All we have to do is find said psycho killer, bring him in and go on our merry way!"

"I must agree with Jamie," Ororo replied. "We do need to get to Nifelleim as soon as we can, and this situation is only going to delay our departure."

"I'll see if I can find Spider-man tonight," Remy said quietly. "Maybe he has some idea as to what's going on."

* * *

It was a few days after the attack on the Institute that Raven suddenly realized where she had seen Remy. She paused in lifting her mug to her lips, eyes distant as she went through the memory before she thinned her lips and put down the mug. 

"Momma?" Rogue asked, her voice concerned.

"It's okay," Raven said with a smile. "I just remembered something that I need to tell Xavier and Erik." She got up from her seat and left the kitchen, feeling the worried looks exchanged between Rogue and Kurt.

It only occurred to her that she had seen Remy in Nifelleim when both she and Logan were meeting up with their informant, a sorcerer by the name of Quicksilver, a year ago. What he was doing there was unknown, but one thing did stand out from the memory.

He was talking to two people who were known bodyguards of the Speaker. One of the bodyguards was with the people who attacked the Institute.

Raven stopped in front of Xavier's study and knocked.

"Come in, Raven," he called out and she opened the door. Erik, Xavier and Emma were all present, as well as Sean. Xavier was at his desk, Erik hovering behind him while both Emma and Sean were seated before the desk. "What can I do for you, Raven?"

"Remy was with them in the past," she spoke the moment she closed the door. "Remy was working with the Speaker."

"Are you sure?" Erik asked, a frown on his face.

"I'm sure," Raven replied with a nod. She crossed her arms and leaned back against the door. "He was talking to one of the men who attacked the Institute when Logan and I were meeting with our informant."

"Then he be goin' tah Nifelleim tah talk t' the Speaker," Sean said, straightening in his seat. "I'll send some men tah Neyaeil immediately and--"

"No, he won't," Emma interrupted. "Remy has no loyalty to the Speaker."

"How can ye be sure, Emma?" Sean asked. "He could have come here lookin' for information, usin' his brothers as a cover."

"He will never do anything that'd bring harm to his brothers," Emma replied in a bored tone. "It's not in his nature."

"Emma--"

"Sean, I can read almost everybody's mind here on Gaia and I could read Remy's," Emma said. "Remy will only work with people if the price is right and that's the only explanation as to why he was in Nifelleim. He wouldn't do anything that would draw attention to his brothers."

"How can you trust him, Emma?" Raven asked. "Mind readers such as yourself can be fooled. How can you trust a man who sells his skills to anyone?"

"It's called faith," Xavier said softly. "And we must have that in the coming times."

"Charles?" Sean asked, a frown on his face. Xavier said nothing.

"Besides," Emma said, "Remy has something the Speaker wants. Whatever it is, he would have given it up to her before the attack." She frowned, crossing her arms.

"From what I could get from those men, they were looking for a key," Emma said. "I wonder what this key is."

* * *

Getting Spider-Man's attention was quite easy. All one has to do was steal some stuff and make a loud explosion, and sooner or later the man would arrive. Remy decided to skip the stealing and go straight with the loud explosion, jumping from rooftop to rooftop as he tossed a few charged cards onto the ground. Spider-Man eventually arrived and Remy was sure the man was scowling at him from beneath the mask. 

"Gambit! What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded. "You could have hurt someone!"

"But I didn't," Remy drawled. "Besides it's the only way I knew how to get your attention." Spider-Man huffed and sat on the wall while Remy sat down.

"What do you want?" Spider-Man asked.

"What's going on with the docks?" Remy asked. "I only got a little information from one of the guards."

"Then you know just as much as I do," the other replied. He rubbed the back of his neck as he gestured with his free hand his puzzlement. "I've got the sinking feeling though that it's a demon."

"How do you know?" Remy asked. "It could be some crazed human or sorcerer. We do have the weapons to rip up a body nowadays." Spider-Man looked down and Remy could feel the uncertainty coming from him. He mentally frowned, wondering how he could feel people's emotions so well now, then wondered if it had anything to do with the god sleeping within him.

"I know a few demons," Spider-Man admitted hesitantly. "I've fought them here in the city before, but I know them. They wouldn't rip apart people because they use to be people, but the bodies... The killer has the same strength as the demons I know, so I'm sure we're looking for one." The sincerity of those words convinced Remy, and he nodded in response.

"We need to get a boat to Nifelleim," he said. "And the only way that's happening is to get that killer."

"I'm headed for the docks right now," Spider-Man replied. "I'm going to nose around a bit and try to find where the demon is. He likes the west end, but where he kills is pretty random so..."

"I'm got some sorcerers with me," Remy said. "We can come with you and--"

"No." Remy blinked, slightly taken aback by the forceful answer. Spider-Man got off the wall and stood before Remy. "I won't have anybody getting hurt on my watch."

"They can handle it," Remy retorted. "They've been trained to fight and you know you're going to need help. Daredevil usually only hangs around Fyrchian and the Black Cat likes to steal stuff more than fight the supernatural."

"Yes, but--"

"Trust me," Remy interrupted. "They can do it."

"If you're sure," Spider-Man replied after a moment, still sounding a bit hesitant. "Meet me at the eastern docks tomorrow night. They're pretty lax over there." Remy nodded in response and watched as Spider-Man raised an arm to shoot out a web and swung away.

--------------------

"We're going to be look for a demon with Spider-Man?" Jamie asked in surprised the next morning during breakfast. Rahne and Bobby also looked surprised by Remy's announcement while Monet and Ororo just looked at Remy curiously. "How neat is that?"

"What part? Demon-huntin' or Spider-Man?" Rahne asked, giving Jamie an incredulous look. "Either way, we be facin' a demon!"

"But it's Spider-Man!" Bobby and Jamie said, looking at Rahne. "It's the guy whom all villains fear! It's the guy who brought down crazy humans and sorcerers alike! It's the guy who battled against demons and lived through every encounter!" They actually looked really excited at the prospect of working alongside the vigilante.

"Just how many demons do you guys think he went up against?" Remy muttered under his breath. "I only remember one, and that guy was possessed to begin with."

"Boys," Monet said with a sigh. Ororo nodded in response, and the two smiled innocently to Jamie and Bobby when they turned to glare at them. Remy just gave them an amused look.

"With that said," Remy started, getting up from his seat, "I think I'll go visit some old friends. Would you like to join me, Stormy?"

"Don't call me that," Ororo said automatically as she got up from her seat. "Who are these old friends of yours?" Remy smiled at her as he saw the others exchanged knowing looks before they also got up and left the room.

"Come with me and you'll see," he replied. Ororo gave him a curious look before she followed him out of the room. He led her down the streets of Neyaeil until they reached a small building. Above the door hung a sign of a small medicine bottle and a curved staff. Remy watched as Ororo took in the sight, frown before looking at him.

"Why are we in front of a clinic?" Ororo asked, crossing her arms.

"My old friends own and work here," Remy replied with a smile. "Come on, I'll introduce you to them."

"And here I thought your old friend would be thieves," Ororo said, following him into the clinic. Remy glanced back with an amused look.

"Thieves do have friends outside of the circle," he replied.

"You mean thieves have doctors as friends to patch them up when a job goes wrong," Ororo said archly. Remy snorted.

"Those are amateurs," Remy said. He paused as he glanced around the waiting room, seeing people in ratty-looking clothing waiting to be seen by the doctors, some looking pale and others looking injured. He could feel Ororo's surprise and sympathy as he walked up to the door and knocked.

"I'm with a patient!" came the answer. "Wait your turn!"

"And your temper is still horrible, Octavius!" Remy replied. There was silence before the door opened. Remy stepped in, Ororo following after hesitantly into the room. Octavius was sitting in the room, dressed in white and, along with his patient, blinking owlishly at them. Remy heard Ororo gasp quietly behind him and knew why she reacted that way.

Four metal arms coming out of a person's back was pretty alarming, after all.

"Robert Lord, is that you?" Octavius asked, adjusting his spectacles.

"The one and only," Remy replied with a grin. "You didn't think I'd leave you all by yourself against Martha, did you?"

"I survived for ten years against her," the doctor retorted. "You being gone hasn't really affected me that much." The patient snickered and Remy chuckled while Octavius gave them all a dirty look.

"Where's Curt?" Remy asked. Octavius gave Remy frown, the usual expression the man wore, but this time Remy could feel the worry radiating off of him. "Has something happened? Are Martha and Billy alright?"

"Would you excuse me?" Octavius asked the patient. The man nodded and Octavius stood up from his seat, looking at Remy and Ororo. "Come with me." He left the room and Remy and Ororo quickly followed him to the back where the Conners resided. He knocked on the door.

"Billy? It's Ock," the doctor called out. "Uncle Robert's here." Someone ran to the door and opened it, revealing a young boy. He instantly went for Remy, throwing his arms out and hugging him at his waist, burying his face into Remy's shirt and bawling. Remy gave him a startled look before placing a hand onto Billy's shoulder and squeezing it gently.

"What's happened?" Remy asked softly over Billy's sobbing.

"Curt disappeared," Martha replied as she appeared. "He's been gone for almost two weeks, and now there's talk about a demon stalking the docks? What if that demon's taken my Curt?" Remy could feel the terror radiating off of Martha and without thinking, he pulled her into a hug with his free arm.

"Me and Stormy will go look for him," Remy said soothingly. "I'll even get Spider-Man to come and help look for him. Don't you worry, okay?"

"Okay," Billy replied with a sniffle. "You promise, Uncle Robert?"

"I promise," Remy said solemnly.

* * *

They met Spider-Man that night at the east docks, slipping by the guards easily. Bobby watched as Remy shook his head at the guards and muttering under his breath something about how Spider-Man was right about the guards. Bobby personally was nervous, not sure what to expect in the hunt for the demon. He glanced over at the others, seeing Jamie looking around nervously while Rahne, who was now in her were form, sniffing the air. Monet and Storm stood side by side behind Remy, a wary look on their face as they also looked around. 

"Hey." Bobby looked up at the voice to see Spider-Man hanging upside-down from a pole and looking down at them. He couldn't help but stare in wonderment as Spider-Man jumped down and landed silently before them.

"Spidey," Remy greeted.

"So these are your friends, eh?" Spider-Man asked, looking at the others. "Well, at least we'll have extra eyes on finding this demon."

"Aye, I hope we find it soon," Rahne replied, a growl in her voice. "This place be kind of spooky at night."

"I second that," Jamie muttered. Bobby nodded in agreement as he glanced around.

"The demon doesn't come up to the east end for some reason," Spider-Man said, "All the same, be on your guard. We'll go in pairs and search through the west end. The demon's got to be in one of the warehouse."

"Um...," Jamie started. "There are seven of us."

"I'll go alone," Spider-Man replied with a shrug. "I'm not much of a team-player to begin with."

"If you're sure..."

"Storm, you're with Bobby," Remy said. "Rahne and Monet, you're together, so that just leaves you with me, Jamie." The others nodded in response.

"Be careful," Spider-Man said and then he was swinging through the air. Bobby followed after Storm to one of the warehouse, glancing back at the others. Monet and Rahne were headed for the second warehouse while Remy and Jamie went towards the third. Bobby couldn't help but notice Remy looking over at Storm, a worried expression on his face before he and Jamie disappeared into the darkness.

"Miss Storm?" Bobby called out quietly as he and the priestess began to search through the warehouse. "Why are you coming to Nifelleim with us?" Storm glanced back at him, a thoughtful look on her face, before she turned away. Bobby followed after her, cautiously glancing about for the demon.

"I'm looking for someone," she replied. "I was told to search for two people, both who will be shown to me in Nifelleim."

"Why are you looking for them?" Bobby asked. "Will they be helping us like whoever Remy is looking for?"

"I believe so," Storm said. She looked behind some crates before continuing on. Bobby glanced under a tarp, seeing nothing unusual before he moved on. "I wonder what kind of a demon we're looking for."

"What, you mean there's more than one kind?"

"Of course," Storm replied, looking back at Bobby. "Not all demons kill. Some demons are scavengers, some are guardians and some even do miracles. Those last ones though always do miracles for a price."

"How do you know so much about them?" Bobby asked, feeling awed by her knowledge. Storm looked away.

"I... I once knew someone with... extensive knowledge on demons," she said softly. There was pain in her voice and Bobby paused in his search to look up at her. He wanted to ask her more about the person, but Bobby knew that prodding any more wouldn't be nice. He silently went back to searching for the demon.

--------------------

"We got nothing," the Jamies said as they met back up with Remy at the entrance. Remy nodded, watching as the original Jamie absorbed them all before they both left the warehouse. Monet and Rahne met up with them empty-handed as well before Ororo and Bobby arrived.

"You didn't find anything?" Remy asked.

"No," Ororo replied then glanced up. Remy followed her gaze to see Spider-Man coming towards them through the air before landing on the side of the building Remy had been in. Jamie, Rahne and Bobby all looked awed at the feat while Monet just sniffed in disdain. Spider-Man looked at them before landing down in front of Remy.

"Didn't find anything?" he asked. Remy shook his head in response and Spider-Man sighed. "Well there's one more warehouse left, and knowing my luck, the demon's there."

"Lady Luck loves to do that to us," Remy replied, giving Spider-Man a resigned look. Spider-Man just sighed against before he took off into the air, swinging towards the last warehouse. Remy walked towards it, pulling out his staff and tapping it against his shoulder. He noticed Bobby giving it curious look.

"Remy? Isn't that kind of short to whack people with?" he asked.

"Right now, it is," Remy replied easily. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Bobby just shrugged and Remy looked towards the warehouse again. The last warehouse made him feel anxious for some reason, and Remy couldn't help but wonder if the anxiety was due to his gut feeling or that the Dark God inside his head knew something. As it was, Remy stopped fiddling around with his short staff and dropped his hand, lengthening the staff in the process. He ignored Bobby and Jamie's surprised noise as they finally approached the building, meeting Spider-Man in front of the door.

"It stinks," Ororo said, her face serious. "The demon is here."

"Why is it always the last place we look?" Spider-Man muttered as he opened the door. "Is it some sort of cruel joke by the gods to mess with people?" Ororo looked vaguely amused by Spider-Man's mutterings as they all entered the building.

The warehouse was like the other warehouses they had searched, and they all split up once again to search through it. Remy glanced back at Jamie to see if he was alright, noticing Jamie giving the place a wary look.

"This place is creepier," Jamie whispered. "It feels like something's watching us."

_That's because it's here_, Remy thought to himself as he nodded. He looked forward again when something above caught his eye. He stopped, jerking his head up to look for the movement.

"Remy?" Jamie whispered.

"It's above," Remy said quietly. "I can see it."

"What?" Jamie looked up as well, squinting into the darkness. "I don't see anything. You sure you're not seeing things?"

"I'm sure," Remy replied. He could just see it, a huge creature with a tail. It was crouched on one of the beams, staring down at them, and Remy could see cold, yellow eyes peering down at them. It began to move and Remy quickly turned to follow, barely hearing Jamie's surprised whisper of "Hey!" and moving to follow after him. The creature was moving fast and Remy growled a curse under his breath.

"Remy?" Remy looked forward to see Ororo in a wary stance, Bobby right behind her. "What is--?"

The demon suddenly landed in between Ororo and Remy with a thunderous roar. Remy and Ororo jerked back in surprise before the demon turned and slammed its tail into Bobby. He was thrown back, smashing into some crates before stopping. Ororo was instantly into the air, throwing bolts of lightning at it, while Remy yanked out three cards, charging them up and threw them as well, listening to the demon shriek in pain as both the cards and lightning connected.

Rahne was suddenly there with a howl, jumping on the demon and slashing at it with her claws. The demon shrieked again and reached back to claw Rahne off. Blood was spilling onto the ground and Remy couldn't do anything but stand back, fearing that if he was to throw his cards again, it would hit Rahne. It took Remy a moment to realize that the demon looked rather lizard-like and was wearing clothes. Confusion slipped in to mix with the anxiety he felt as he watched Rahne continue to claw and slash at the lizard.

"Rahne! Get off of it!" Monet yelled, but Rahne just ignored her, slashing at the demon's face. The demon roared and grabbed Rahne's by her head, yanking her off and throwing her. She slammed into other crates before she weakly got up. Two Jamies were by her side instantly as Bobby, who managed to get up again and in ice-form now, sent shards of ice at the demon. Ororo sent another bolt of lightning at it, but the demon was able to avoid it. With a sudden burst of speed, it charged right at Ororo and slammed into her. Remy froze at the sight, watching--

_--as Phoenix threw her back with just a flick of her wrist. Ororo fell onto the ground with a grunt before she got up again, anger on her face. He shouted in rage at Phoenix and charged towards her, his scythe in hand._

_"Death! No!" Magnus shouted before Death was also thrown away by some invisible power. Phoenix just laughed, a coldly joyous laugh as she watched them._

_"You will not win, Phoenix!" Ororo said, her voice rough. "I will not allow you to win!" Death got up, his scythe ready as well as Magnus with his swords. Ororo suddenly charged again, her spear poised to stab Phoenix and, in an instant, Death knew that she would succeed in defeating Phoenix at the cost of her life._

_"No," Death whispered and--_

--cards were thrown as Remy charged towards the demon. Anger burned through him and for a moment, Remy wondered if it was himself that was angry or the Dark God for the harm that came to Ororo. The cards exploded, sending the lizard stumbling back and giving Remy the opportunity to slam his staff hard into its side.

-  
-

_Do whatever you want, kill, feed, curse, fuck, I could care less. Whatever you do though, you will not harm other gods nor those who follow my beloved. Whosoever attempts to hurt them will feel my wrath._

- The Dark God to his demons

* * *

Out of curiosity, if I was to start up a new fic that features crossovers of video games, anime and X-Men, would anyone read it? 


	10. Chapter Eight

Title: The Gathering Night   
Author: May Chang  
Genre: slash, action, AU(fantasy)  
Pairings: Havok x Polaris, Wolverine x Mystique, Rogue + Cyclops, Quicksilver + Storm, Northstar + Iceman, past Gambit x Storm  
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

_A demon is a demon. It may come in the appearance of a man, woman, a child, but inside it is still a demon. A man can be a demon, for mortals all carry within themselves a darkness. Many who have been consumed by their darkness still look human, but there are those who let the demon out and become demons themselves._

- The Dark God to the Storm Goddess

-  
-

The lizard-demon was thrown back into the wall, howling in pain at the burns. Two Jamies were by Rahne's side and Monet was by Ororo's side, the three of them checking Rahne and Ororo over for injuries. Remy wasn't sure what Bobby was doing or where Spider-Man was; all he could think of was destroying the lizard demon for hurting his beloved.

_Beloved? Am I still in control?_ Remy shifted, clenching his fists as he watched the lizard crouching down, hissing angrily at him.

"Demons and sin, he's huge!" Spider-Man said as he appeared by Remy's side. Remy then realized that Bobby and Monet were also by his side, ready to go into battle. He glanced back to see the two Jamies still by Rahne's side, but Ororo was up in the air, her eyes white and lightning bolts ready to be thrown at the demon.

"You know that saying," Bobby said, stance ready to move, "the bigger they are, the harder they fall." The demon hissed as it crouched down then ran into the shadows. Remy and Spider-Man swore and took off, followed by Bobby. Ororo flew after the lizard-demon, followed closely by Monet who also took off into the air. It took only half a minute before they actually lost the demon. Remy looked around, pulling out a card and charging it to light the area so that he could see.

"I don't see it," Bobby murmured, glancing around warily. Spider-Man suddenly turned and shoved Bobby and Remy away, jerking back just as a claw slashed through the air. The vigilante shot webbing into the demon's face, jumping back as it howled and clawed at its face, trying to get the sticky webbing off. Bobby, Ororo and Remy all took the opportunity to attack, cards and shards of ice hitting the lizard before Ororo let loose bolts of lightning. The demon staggered and both Monet and Spider-Man kicked him, one in the gut and the other in the head. The lizard fell back against the wall, breathless and stared at them.

"Robert. Spider-Man," it croaked out. Remy and Spider-Man froze, staring at the lizard in surprise.

"What--?"

"Kill me. Please," the lizard said. "Before it takes hold again." It choked before it roared, jerking to its feet and moving menacingly towards them again. Remy shared a worried look with Spider-Man before they were on guard again.

_Before it takes hold of you again? What does that mean?_ Remy wondered as he leaped away from a slash. He barely dodged the tail, flipping backwards onto a crate. He watched as Spider-Man and Monet took the lizard on, Bobby and Ororo circling around them hesitantly. Remy was about to charge in again when he realized he couldn't move. _Oh no, not again..._

His body stood up and Remy watched helplessly at the others fighting the demon, wondering why the Dark God made no move to aid them, even when Ororo flew before him, lightning bolts flashing from her hands. The lizard staggered back into the wall from the lightning blast and Bobby took the opportunity to freeze the lizard against the wall.

"Bobby! You iced it!" Jamie called out as he and Rahne made their way towards them. Rahne was still in were-form, but she was limping slightly.

"This isn't going to be able to hold him for long," Bobby said tightly. The Dark God calmly walked forward, jumping off the crate and making his way towards the group before the demon. "Remy! What are you doing?!"

_I have no idea_, Remy replied, _but I'll let you know when I'm back in my body._ Ororo frowned at him, puzzlement in her eyes as the Dark God approached the lizard. He stopped right before it with a curious tilt of his head.

"Cursed," Remy heard the Dark God say softly as he looked at the struggling lizard. "How? Did you anger one of the darkness? Or is it that your darkness has consumed you, human?" The lizard just roared in response. Remy could feel Ororo's surprise, but his attention was riveted to what the Dark God was doing.

"Remy?" Monet called out, her voice anxious.

"No, it's alright," Ororo said, a hand out to stop them. "He knows what he's doing."

"What?" Spider-Man asked in confusion. "What do you mean, he knows what he's doing? That's a demon!"

"Trust me," Ororo replied softly, "and trust him."

_You better know what you're doing_, Remy said. _I would really like to keep my body intact, thank you very much._ There was a faint feeling of amusement and Remy couldn't help but mentally blink at the response. He watched as the Dark God raised a hand and began to trace a pattern into the air, muttering something under his breath. Remy strained to hear what he said, but then he was distracted by the lizard howling in pain.

_What the--_

"--hell?!" Bobby yelped, jerking back and an ice shield suddenly in hand. Monet, Jamie, Rahne and Spider-Man also jerked back, all wary and ready to fight. Ororo was the only one who stood her ground calmly as she watched the demon thrash against the ice. The sound of ice breaking was covered by the lizard's scream and suddenly it was on the ground, writhing in pain.

"Storm? What's going on?" Jamie asked tightly, three duplicates all ready to fight.

"Exorcism," Storm replied. "It's an ancient magic skill used to forcibly evict a demon from its human host."

"Ancient magic?" Monet asked, her voice incredulous. "How does Re-Gambit know about it?" Ororo gave no reply as she looked on. Meanwhile Remy was staring in horror as he watched the darkness seemingly forced out of the body. The darkness - could it be the demon? Remy wondered - twisted and clawed, trying to keep its grip on its human host. Remy could feel the Dark God's annoyance at the demon before he knelt down next to the demon.

_What the hell are you doing?!_ Remy shouted in fear. The Dark God gave no response as he placed a hand on the lizard's head and whispered to it in a foreign language. The demon stiffened and his hand tightened over something, tearing it out of the host. Remy could see a shadow-like lizard-man, clawing at his hand and screaming in pain.

"Shut up and die," the Dark God spoke in a monotonous voice and squeezed. Remy watched as the demon shrieked before it seemingly exploded into smoke in his hand. He was suddenly tired and he staggered back, shaking his head to clear away the dizziness and exhaustion he felt.

"Death?" Remy heard Ororo whispered and he glanced back at her. She looked hopeful for a moment before her eyes turned sad at the realization that it was Remy once again. Remy turned his attention back to the human and saw that the figure unconscious on the ground. The scales were slowly fading away and Remy noticed his right arm was withering away. A chill settled in the pit of his stomach as Remy watched the arm disappear, realizing who it was before him.

"Oh shit," Remy choked out, kneeling down and rolling the man over.

"Gambit? Who is it?" Spider-Man asked, walking over to Remy's side. He went quiet and Remy could feel the disbelief emanating from him. "Gray Lord's honor..."

"Curt," Remy whispered. "What happened to you?"

--------------------

"What happened?" Octavius nearly shouted as Remy entered the examining room with Curt in his arms. The doctor looked rumpled, having been pulled out of bed to answer the door. "Get him on the bed quickly! Damn it, Curt, what happened to you?" Remy put down Curt and Octavius was instantly by the bed, his human hands checking over Curt for injuries while one of his metal arms moved to shut the door. A second metal arm went towards a bell-pull and yanked it hard three times.

"Is he okay?" Remy asked worriedly. Octavius adjusted his glasses as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, yes, he's fine," he replied gruffly. "What happened to him? Where did you find him?" Remy didn't reply as the door opened and Martha entered the room. She froze at the sight of her husband on the bed and, with a cry, ran towards him.

"Curt! Curt!" she cried out. Curt's eyes fluttered and he groaned before he went silent again. She looked up at Remy and Octavius, tears falling down her face. "What happened? What's wrong with him?"

"Exhaustion," Octavius replied. "He's fine, Martha. He just needs sleep."

"What happened, Robert?" Martha asked tearfully, running her fingers through Curt's hair. "Where did you find him?"

"At the docks," Remy replied. Martha and Octavius all jerked their heads up at Remy, and Remy could feel the shock and horror coming from them. He just barely stopped himself from staggering from the emotions, taking a deep breath to steady himself.

"We found him there," Remy said, "we meaning Spider-Man, Storm and myself. Spider-Man was looking for the demon there and Storm thought that she would be of some help to him. I went as well because I thought I'd look for Curt in the most dangerous place and get that out of the way. I didn't think I'd actually find Curt there."

"The demon took him?" Martha asked, her voice an octave higher. Remy nodded.

"Apparently it was using him as a healer," Remy said. "He was like that when we finally reached him."

"The demon...?" Octavius asked. "Storm took care of it," Remy said, adding a trace of admiration into his voice.

"Spider-Man and I held the demon off for a while before Storm brought down the power of the Storm Goddess upon it. The demon is gone."

"Thank the Storm Goddess," Martha breathed.

"Amazing," Octavius added. Remy nodded.

"I'll come back tomorrow," Remy said. "The docks will hopefully be opened soon and I don't want to leave without saying good-bye."

"Thank you, Robert," Martha said, approaching Remy. She gave him a tight hug and he patted her back. "Thank you for bringing my husband back to me." Remy just smiled and left the clinic, making his way back to the inn. He paused halfway there and smiled at the presence.

"I thought you'd be in bed by now," Remy said easily. "It's almost daybreak, 'Ro."

"I thought you would like some company back to the inn," Ororo replied, landing down next to Remy. "I find this time of the morning the best."

"Mm," Remy agreed. He tilted his head slightly then took her hand. "Come on, I know a place to watch the sunrise from." Ororo smiled and Remy led her, towards a Storm Goddess temple. Ororo took hold of him and flew them up to the roof where they sat and watched the sun appear over the horizon.

"It's always beautiful," she said, "no matter if it's cloudy or rainy."

"Yes, it is," Remy replied. He pulled her against him, feeling her surprise as he put his chin on her shoulder, his arm around her waist.

"Remy...?" Ororo started.

"Don't ask why," Remy said. "I just... Don't know why... it feels... familiar. Like we've done this before." Remy smiled to himself in amusement.

"I think he's feeling nostalgic." Ororo was quiet for a while before she leaned back against Remy with a smile of her own.

"I don't blame him," she replied softly.

--------------------

It was late in the afternoon when Remy met the private at the docks while on his way to the clinic. He had decided to go see how Curt was doing, hoping to see him awake and maybe have a private word with him. Remy found Peter before the clinic, giving the building an unsure look.

"Private Parker! Fancy seeing you here," Remy greeted as he walked up to him. Peter turned to look up at him in surprise.

"Mr. Lord," he said. "How are you?"

"Please, call me Robert. The mister part makes me sound too dignified," Remy replied with a sniff.

"So long as you just call me Peter," the private replied with a grin. "A, um... well, a friend wanted me to come and check on a doctor. He said that the demon at the docks had taken him and well..."

"He sent you to see if Doc's doing well, huh?" Remy mused. "Well, come on. I'm here to see him too." Peter looked relieved and followed Remy into the clinic. The waiting room was still full with patients, but this time Remy and Peter were greeted by a smiling Billy. The boy gave Remy a hug and tugged him to the back, Peter following after them.

"Father's awake and resting at home," Billy said. "He still gets tired though, but Uncle Ock thinks that he should be fine after a few days. Mother is looking over him so I'm helping Uncle Ock in the clinic for now."

"Mm-hm," Remy replied, feeling rather amused at the boy.

"Mother? Father? Uncle Robert is here," Billy called out as he entered the home. Martha appeared with a smile and Billy gave Remy a wave before he went back to the clinic. Remy glanced back to see Peter before looking back at Martha.

"Robert! It's good to see you again," Martha greeted. She then looked over Remy's shoulder at Peter. "And you are...?"

"Private Peter Parker," Peter said. "I'm, uh, here to see how a Curt Conners is doing for a friend."

"Oh?" Martha asked in puzzlement. "Well, come in, please. He's in the bedroom resting." She led the two to the bedroom where Curt was sitting up in bed, looking out the window. The doctor looked up and smiled as Remy gave a salute in greeting.

"Robert, how good to see you!" Curt said. He then looked over at Peter. "And you are?"

"Private Peter Parker," he replied. "I'm here on behalf of a friend to see how you were doing, sir."

"Please, call me Curt," the doctor said.

"I'll go get some drinks for you," Martha said.

"Thank you, ma'am," Peter said. Martha smiled at them and left the room. Remy settled himself onto a seat while Peter stayed by the door. The private glanced out into the hallway then looked at Curt. "Spider-Man would like to know how you are doing, sir."

"Spider-Man?" Curt asked, looking startled before breaking into a smile. "Tell him that I am doing fine. I'll probably be seeing him again in the future." Peter chuckled in reply.

"I best be going, sir," Peter said. "I was on my way to the docks for duty."

"Please, go ahead," Curt said with a gesture. "Give my thanks to Spider-Man."

"Of course, sir," Peter said with a grin and then he was gone. Curt then turned his attention to Remy, who was leaning back against the chair.

"Thank you, Robert," Curt said quietly. "I thought I would never regain my humanity. How did you do it?"

"How did you become that creature?" Remy asked, ignoring Curt's question. Curt frowned at that before shook his head.

"To be honest, I'm not sure myself," Curt replied, looking away from Remy. "All I remember is going to the docks to help someone in the middle of the night. Apparently there was a fight between the dock-hands and the guards. Once I was done patching them up, I was going home when something attacked me. I couldn't see what it was and the next thing I knew, my attacker was gone and my right arm was back." Curt paused to look at the arm, a disappointed look crossing his face.

"I was shock, and happy of course," Curt continued, "but then everything began to change. My hands grew scales and I had a tail... By the Storm Goddess, I was cursed by a demon!" He dropped his head into his left hand, and Remy could feel the fear and disgust coming from the doctor.

"It's over now, Curt," Remy said softly. "The curse is gone now."

"I killed those men," Curt whispered. "I tried to keep it from using my body, but it wanted blood." "

It's over, Curt," Remy repeated. "It wasn't your fault."

"Martha will hate me," Curt said.

"No, I won't." They looked up to see Martha at the door, a tray with drink in her hands and tears rolling down her face. "I could never hate you, Curt." Remy sat up straight as Martha came in, put the tray down onto the table and crossed over to Curt, wrapping her arms around him. He hugged her back, tears visible in his eyes as Martha continued to whisper to him.

"I love you Curt. I can never hate you, no matter what."

_"I can never hate you, no matter what," Ororo said quietly, her back towards him. "But I can never love you, Death."_

A wave of sorrow, hurt and anger rushed through Remy and he lifted a fist up, biting his knuckle hard to keep from screaming as he watched the couple.

* * *

The _Seacat_ rocked up and down through the waves and Remy couldn't help but smile at the motion. On the other side of the boat, he could hear Jamie being sick over the railing and both Rahne and Monet by his side, the former patting him gently on his back and the latter just looking amused. Ororo was up at the helm, talking to the ship's navigator while Bobby was by his side, staring out into the sea. Remy sighed, breathing in the salty air and watching the setting sun, feeling glad to finally be on their way to Nifelleim.

He found himself thinking about the Conners. Leaning against the railing, Remy wondered what had happened between the Dark God and Ororo then wondered if it was really any of his business. He toyed with the idea of being with Ororo before deciding that as beautiful as she was, he didn't have any sexual interest in her.

"What do you know about Northstar?" Bobby suddenly asked, breaking into Remy's thoughts. Blinking, Remy turned to look at Bobby, who seemed intent on looking for something in the waters.

"Northstar?" Remy said. "Not that much. Why do you ask?" Remy could feel the embarrassment - or was it nervousness? - radiating from Bobby as the young man turned his head slightly to look at Remy.

"Could I say I just want to know about him and leave it at that?" Bobby asked.

"Sure," Remy replied after a moment. "What do you want to know?"

"What's he like, really," Bobby said quietly. Remy couldn't help but raise as eyebrow at Bobby who looked back at the waters, this time with a faint blush on his cheeks.

_If I didn't know any better, I'd say he has a crush_, Remy thought, feeling rather amused. _I don't know if I like it though._

"He's a pain in the ass," Remy said aloud. "He likes fashion and books, and is generally sarcastic to everyone he meets. He's also very honorable for someone who follows the Phoenix Queen; everybody else seems to be willing to take the opportunity to stab people in the back."

"So I take it he's the only enemy you have that you respect?" Bobby asked, looking back at Remy. Remy tilted his head up to the sky as he thought about it.

"Yes," he replied after a moment. He then narrowed his eyes at Bobby and smirked at him. "Got a crush on him, I see."

"Erm..." Bobby looked like he wanted to bolt, nervousness and terror hitting Remy like a hammer. Remy just laughed in response before Bobby stuck his tongue out at Remy.

"Well, we may bump into him again in Nifelleim, but I rather doubt it'd be under good terms," Remy said seriously after a while.

"Yeah, I know," Bobby said quietly, looking dejectedly out at the seat once again. "I just... I like... Wish it wasn't like this, you know?"

"His name is Jean-Paul," Remy said quietly after a moment. "He has a twin sister named Jeanne-Marie and calls herself Aurora. I'm sure you met her that night."

"Jean-Paul..." Bobby tilted his head slightly as though he was considering the name. "Nice. I'll call him JP." Remy chuckled, already seeing the man's outrage of his name becoming two letters.

"Thanks, Remy," Bobby said, grinning at Remy. He then glanced out at the sea before looking back at Remy. "It's going to be smooth sailing from here on, so I'm going to raid the kitchen." Remy nodded and looked back out at the sea, listening to Bobby's retreating footsteps and turning his thoughts back to Ororo.

"Did you have a nice conversation, Remy?"

_Speak of the goddess and she appears_, Remy thought as he looked over his shoulder to see Ororo standing behind him.

"An interesting one," Remy said, turning to lean back against the railing. Ororo stepped up next to him, hands resting against the railing and looking out at the sea. "The poor boy's got a crush on the enemy."

"Really?" Ororo replied, looking at Remy with a raised eyebrow. "Should I be worried for his sake?"

"Too early to tell," Remy said, "but I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably just an innocent thing and, besides Northstar might shatter that crush if we meet again."

"I'm pretty sure we will," Ororo said. She stepped away from the railing and Remy straightened. "I'm feeling a bit hungry. Would you like to join me for a meal?"

"With pleasure, 'Ro."

* * *

Remy yawned as he turned in for the night. Entering the cabin he was sharing with Bobby and Jamie, he saw that the two were already fast asleep. Jamie looked a bit pale, but Remy wasn't really surprised; the young man had barely finished a small dinner before he was back hanging over the side of the railing. Bobby, on the other hand, looked like he could sleep through anything. Remy chuckled quietly to himself as he pulled off his shirt and boots, and slid into his bunk. Pulling the cover over himself, he hoped that neither boys snored.

--------------------

_I see you're finally on your way to Nifelleim. _

_Look for the Lightning God when you've reached the harbor. He and the Cold One will show you the way. _

_I look forward to meeting you, Remy LeBeau._

--------------------

Remy woke up to the sun shining in his face. Squinting, he got out of his bunk, noting that both Bobby and Jamie were already gone. He pulled on a shirt and his boots before he left the cabin. Scanning the deck, Remy couldn't help but feel amused at the familiar sight of Jamie being sick over the railing and Rahne just patting his back soothingly. Remy made his way to the mess and found Ororo, Monet and Bobby there, the women nursing a mug of tea and Bobby wolfing down some biscuits and a bowl of gruel. On the table before them was a bowl of apples.

"How you can eat that stuff in the morning is beyond me," Remy said as he slid into a chair across from Ororo and next to Bobby. He reached out and picked up an apple, wiping it on his shirt before he took a bite of it. Bobby just waved a hand in response.

"Food's food," he replied. Bobby gulped down the rest of his gruel, causing Remy to wince at the sight before he got up, a couple of biscuits in hand. "Well, time to see if Jamie's up to eating anything."

"I'll come with you," Monet said, getting up. She followed Bobby out, putting her mug into a rack by the door. Remy looked at Ororo who just calmly sipped her tea.

"Say, 'Ro," Remy said, "do you happen to know who the Lightning God and the Cold One are?" Ororo blinked, looking startled by the question.

"The Lightning God is a secondary," Ororo replied. "The Cold One is also suppose to be a secondary, but I think that whoever thought him up was on something."

"So... one of them is real and the other is fake? And what's a secondary?"

"A secondary... I suppose a secondary could be considered as a demigod. The Lightning God and the Goddess of the Night are both secondaries, the former with the Gray Lord and the latter with the Dark God." Remy could feel warmth from Ororo when she spoke about the Lightning God and wondered if she had feelings for the man. Taking another bite of his apple, Remy thought carefully his next words.

"Jean contacted me again last night," Remy said. "She said that once we get to the harbor, we're suppose to look for the Lightning God."

"Pietro?" Ororo asked, a confused frown on her face. "Why?"

"Apparently he and the Cold One will be showing us the way to her, although if you're saying that there's no such thing as the Cold One, I'm going to have to hope the other one knows where he's going," Remy replied. He blinked at the name she had said. "Pietro? Why does that name sound familiar?" Ororo glanced around the room before leaning in towards Remy.

"Pietro is Magnus's informant on the Speaker's actions," she said lowly. "It's only natural since he is Magnus's son."

Pietro Maximoff. The name was unfortunately familiar to Remy as the image of a silver-hair man with a haughty expression appeared in his mind. He groaned and dropped his head into his free hand.

"You know him?" Ororo asked lightly.

"Oh, you could say that," Remy replied, looking at the goddess. "I stole some stuff from his place."

"Define stuff."

"Three paintings by Mache, diamond necklaces and rings, at least five purses of gold and a pair of his underpants, only because Aurora has a crush on him and he was being a bastard to me." Ororo stared at him for a moment before she broke into peals of laughter, leaning back into her chair as she wrapped her arms around her stomach.

"So you're the one!" she choked out between laughs. "Pietro was so angry when he found those stolen! I didn't know about the underpants though."

"I doubt he'd noticed if he was missing one of those," Remy replied dryly. Ororo just continued to laugh and Remy couldn't help but grin after a moment. She finally stopped laughing, catching her breath as she wiped away the tears from her eyes.

"The Cold One is suppose to be a secondary of mine," Ororo mused. "I suppose that when we meet up with Pietro, the Cold One will show as well. I wonder if I'll be able to recognize him."

"It could be a her," Remy countered with a shrug.

"True. This is already shaping up to be an interesting adventure."

-  
-

_A change comes to the dark land. The avatars will soon meet and gods will rise from the mist._

- Destiny's Diaries Vol. II


	11. Chapter Nine

Title: The Gathering Night   
Author: May Chang  
Genre: slash, action, AU(fantasy)  
Pairings: Havok x Polaris, Wolverine x Mystique, Rogue + Cyclops, Quicksilver + Storm, Northstar + Iceman, past Gambit x Storm  
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.  
Author's Note: This chapter isn't about Remy and the others. This chapter does have Scott and the others, as well as a guest appearance of Chamber and his team. Yes, that's right, Chamber. :)

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

_Know thy strength and thine enemies' strength for then thou mayst know thine next move._

- Ancient Battle Text

-  
-

"I see." Magnus looked up at the ceiling, a frown on his face as he thought about the news they had received. "I'm surprised that the Dark Riders have decided to move now." He was sitting in one of the plush seats in the library with Xavier and Emma on the couch. Scott, Logan and Raven were standing before them, the first with a worried look on his face. Xavier's study was currently in the process of being repaired, and most of the students were in class.

"Converging in Trakia is a strange thing," Scott said. "Should we move to intercept them or wait, sir?"

"I say we hit 'em now," Logan growled. "One less problem to take care of."

"You'll certainly be able to survive a fight with them," Emma mused to herself, "but I don't think Raven would like being left out of it."

"Damn right I wouldn't," Raven muttered crossly. Logan just snorted in response while Magnus crossed his arms, running the information through his head. He knew that while the Dark Riders owed their allegiance to the Dark God, it didn't prevent them from slaughtering anyone who chose to get in their way. Magnus had hoped that they could be swayed into the coming battle against the Phoenix Force, but the information they had received told him otherwise. There might even be a chance that the Dark Riders will work with the Phoenix Force.

"We have to stop them," Xavier said quietly. Magnus looked up at Xavier in surprise, absently noting Emma's own surprised look. Xavier looked around the room at the others from his seat. "There is a chance that the Dark Riders will side with the Phoenix Force, but I am more concerned with the idea that the Dark Riders pits sorcerers against sorcerers."

"Survival of the fittest," Magnus said darkly. "The strong will rule over the weak, the sorcerers over the humans."

"The Gray Lord mantra," Emma said. "I'm not surprised they took that mantra and paired it in their worship of death."

_Neither am I_, Magnus thought with a mental grimace. Xavier gave him a sympathetic look, sensing his discomfort before he looked back at the others.

"Scott, I want you and Rogue to take a team to Trakia," Xavier said. "Do not engage them directly though. Hold back until you know what their powers are before you go in." "Yes, sir," Scott said, bowing his head slightly before he left.

"So you finally decided to get your hands dirty, eh, Charles?" Emma asked lightly, leaning back to look at Xavier with a raised eyebrow. Xavier just sighed in reply, a frown on his face.

"While I do not condone violence, I will use it against people who choose to use their strength against the weak," Xavier said softly.

"What he means is Chuck ain't no pushover," Logan said in amusement. Magnus chuckled at that while Xavier gave Logan a rueful look.

"Hmph," Emma replied with a sniff, leaning back at the seat. "What about O'Leons? Raven has mentioned that some of the Phoenix Forces are there."

"Me an' Raven can go there an' put a stop to them," Logan said.

"What about this Dark Guild?" Xavier asked. "They may not like us coming into their territory to fight the Phoenix Force."

"They'll have to deal," Emma said bluntly. "Besides, I just want to know why they're in O'Leons to begin with."

"We'll find out," Raven replied.

"Be careful," Xavier said as Logan and Raven turned to leave. Logan just grunted in response while Raven nodded to him. He then looked at Emma.

"What will your Hellions be doing, Emma?" he asked curiously.

"Watching over the school," Emma said easily. "Someone has to do it now that you're actually sending your students out to fight." Magnus chuckled again as Xavier raised an eyebrow at Emma.

* * *

Scott found Rogue and Kurt in the courtyard playing netball with Paige and Jay. Slowing his steps, he waited for them to finish their game. Paige tossed the ball to Jay who faced off against Kurt and then he was behind Kurt. Kurt spun around in surprise as Jay passed the ball back to Paige who had gotten by Rogue and she dropped it into the net. 

"Gray Lord's honor, how did you do that?" Kurt asked in awe.

"Well, the wings kind of helped," Jay said with a grin.

"Nice shot, Paige," Scott called out. Paige saluted to Scott with a grin as he walked towards Rogue. Rogue was panting, a smile on her lips. "Rogue, we need to talk."

"Now?" she asked in surprise.

"Yes," Scott replied then looked over at Kurt. "This also concern you too Kurt. Please meet at the briefing room in half a glass." Kurt nodded while Paige and Jay exchanged looks before they followed the blue sorcerer back inside. Rogue turned to look after them before she turned back to face Scott, tilting her head slightly.

"We're going to Trakia," Scott said.

"What?" she asked in surprised. "What for?"

"There are Dark Riders there. The professor wants us to put a stop to them," Scott explained, "but I have a funny feeling that there may be more to them in Trakia than what we know so far." Rogue faced him fully, a serious look on her face.

"You think they're meetin' someone?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Don't know, but I wouldn't discount it," Scott said. He looked down, a hand rubbing his chin while the other propped on his hip. "The professor voiced the idea that they may be meeting some of the Phoenix Forces there."

"Damn, that ain' good," Rogue said. "So the professor wants us tah charge right in?"

"No, we'll find out what they're doing and then we'll charge right in," Scott said dryly. "I kind of like us to be able to leave Trakia breathing."

"Right." Rogue turned back to the institute. Scott followed after her. "What's the plan?"

"Remy took Monet who would have been useful in this mission," Scott said with a frown, "but I think that most of us should be able to make up for it by asking around the local for any word on them. Piotr and Kurt will stay behind since their acting skills leaves much to be desired." Rogue laughed softly at that and Scott felt his heart skip a beat at it.

"That's a nice way of saying they suck at lying," Rogue said with a smile.

"Once we get the information," Scott continued, fighting down a blush, "then we'll go charging in."

"Straight-forward enough," Rogue said. She stopped and turned to look at Scott. "You think we're ready fer this sorta thing? We may've trained wit' Logan and Momma a lot but we're still pretty green. Why ain' Emma sendin' her kids out? They've more field trainin' than us."

"You give yourself such little credit," a voice called out. Rogue and Scott both turned to see Emma walk towards them, an amused look on her face. "If memory serves me correctly, weren't you the one who led Kurt and an injured Piotr in rescuing Kitty?"

"That ain' nothin' compared tah Lorna an' Alex takin' out that crazy cult," Rogue responded with a shake of her head.

"I hate to disagree with you Rogue, but the rescue mission makes Lorna and Alex's mission pale in comparison," Scott said. Rogue sniffed in response while Emma just looked even more amused. Scott looked at Emma, wondering what she was so amused about.

_/ That's a secret, fearless leader. /_

"Trust our brave leader here," Emma said aloud, looking at Scott, "and trust yourself. It's the only thing you can rely on in a fight." With that she turned and walked away, leaving the two alone in the hall again. Scott looked at Rogue who had crossed her arms and had an unsure expression on her face.

"Don't worry, Rogue," Scott said. "You'll be fine."

"Ah wasn' worried 'bout that," Rogue said, "but... thanks all the same, Scott." She turned and walked away, leaving Scott standing in the hall, feeling warm and confused.

--------------------

Scott gave the room a quick scan, deeming that everybody had arrived. Moving to the head of the table, he gave a nod to Rogue in greeting before he looked over at the others. Kurt was sitting next to Rogue while Hank sat at the other end of the table. Kitty sat across from the second-in-command and Piotr sat next to her. Scott noticed the Asyian man's hand twitch slightly as though he wanted to take Kitty's hand and he mentally smiled.

"Alright, folks," Scott began, "the professor has a mission for us in Trakia. We're going to be engaging against Dark Riders."

"Dark Riders?" Kitty asked, sounding startled. "As in the blood-thirsty, Dark God worshippers?"

"Unfortunately yes," Scott said. "Concerns has been raised that the Dark Riders might be doing something there, a possibility being that they're meeting Phoenix Forces." He heard Kurt swear under his breath and saw Piotr and Kitty exchange a worried look.

"We'll be doing recon first," Scott continued. "Piotr, Kurt, I'd like you two to explore the city while the rest of us are out. I want to get the layout of the city before we go into battle with the Dark Riders. Kitty, Rogue, Hank, I want you three to look for anyone that looks out of place. I'll be asking around for Dark Riders and Phoenix Force information."

"You're drawing their attention on just yourself?" Kurt asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Not really," Scott replied. "Six complete strangers has just come to the city and one of them is asking for trouble. All eyes are going to be looking at us, particularly me. If anything, I'm hoping to provoke them to chasing us and not go to a meeting." Rogue snorted at the response while Kitty and Hank looked amused.

"Are we goin' tah be capturin' 'em or not?" Rogue asked.

"We're just going to repel them away from Trakia," Scott replied. "I'd rather not take prisoners and killing isn't our way." Everyone nodded in response.

"We're going to be heading out tomorrow bright and early, people, so get everything that you need to do done and get some sleep. Meet me at the hanger at seven." Everyone nodded once again and stood up, filing out of the room. Rogue stayed behind and looked at Scott curiously.

"Yah takin' the Blackbird?" she asked.

"Yes," Scott replied, a smile breaking out on his face. "Erik and I were making some improvements to it and I want to test it out for this mission." Rogue rolled her eyes and turned to leave. Scott barely heard her mutter something under her breath, but it sounded oddly fond to him.

He wondered what it was about.

* * *

Trakia was everything Remy had said it would be: hot, dusty and hot. For a brief moment, Scott wondered how Remy was doing before he focused back to the task at hand. Kurt and Piotr were getting the layout of the city while Hank, Kitty and Rogue were looking around for anyone suspicious. Scott had the daunting task of asking around for information on the Dark Riders. 

The Blackbird had performed beautifully at flying them from Wehles to Trakia. Erik had done a brilliant job in creating this, a jet as he called it. Scott was sure that the elder man had to be one of the Gray Lord's higher priests or even an engineer; they were, after all, known for their metal-work and advancements in technology.

Asking around the city for Dark Riders was proving difficult though and by the late afternoon, Scott was feeling frustrated and paranoid. The frustration was for obvious reason, but the paranoia was for a different reason.

He was being watched.

_Who knew that asking around for information would have eyes on you in seconds?_ Scott thought as he made his way through the marketplace. _I can't even tell if it's hostile or just curiosity._ Turning down into an alleyway, Scott could feel the hairs on the back of his neck prickling and he shivered slightly at the feeling.

_Well, now I know they're hostile._ He walked further down the alley until he knew he was far away from the marketplace before he stopped.

"Who are you?" Scott called out, turning to look. He froze at the sight of three strange-looking beings before him, almost staggering towards him. From the torso down, the beings were thin, their pelvis jutting out almost painfully. Their arms were just as thin, hanging all the way down to the ground and ending not with hands but with wicked-looking blades. Broad shoulders and chest, and a helmet that covered both the head and the neck made up the rest of the creature.

"Whoa," Scott whispered and was in a defensive stance in a second. The three creatures continued towards him, slouching forward and using their arms to aid them in walking towards him.

_No, it's not for support_, Scott thought, _it's their battle stance! Shit!_ He instantly put a hand up to his visor and fired at one the beings. The shot hit the creature head-on and it was sent onto its back, not moving from where it laid. The other two were instantly moving, jumping onto the walls and moving fast towards Scott. Scott turned his head and fired again at another, missing by a mere few inches. He backed up quickly, turning his head to fire at the other, also missing that one.

"Dark God take them!" he hissed as he fired twice more at the beings, missing them before he turned and ran. He could hear the clatter coming from the creatures as they followed him and, raising his hand to his visor, Scott came to a sudden stop, turned and fired. The blast caught one of the creatures off-guard and sent it flying back, landing with a sick crunch onto the ground. Scott turned to face the other creature and realized to his horror that it was gone.

_Where--?_

"Duck!" a voice shouted and Scott ducked, watching as a blade swish over his head. He turned to his right, slamming his right elbow out into the creature. It staggered back, just far enough to let Scott get on his feet again. He raised his hand to his visor when a shower of sparks suddenly appeared. "Eat fireworks, ugly!" Lights temporarily blinded Scott and as he blinked his eyes to see again, the creature was down on the ground and an Aysian girl was standing next to it, rubbing a finger under her nose with a smug expression as she looked down at it.

"You ain't so tough, Dark Rider," she said, sticking her tongue out at it. She then turned to look at Scott. "C'mon, more of 'em are probably comin' right now." Glancing back, Scott turned and followed her quickly down alleys until he wasn't even sure he could get back to the inn without any trouble. Finally she stopped, glancing around before she looked at Scott.

"You're new around here, huh?" the Aysian girl asked, sitting down on the ground next to Scott and crossing her legs. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at what he assumed was his visor. "Weird shades. Pretty cool though. So what are you skulking around for?" Scott couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that.

"None of you business?" he replied. The Aysian just grinned in response.

"Can't do that," she replied. "You're about to walk into a battlefield and we'd like to keep innocent humans and sorcerers out of the way, although those Dark Riders didn't seem all too thrill about you."

"A battlefield?"

"You know, the forces of good doing battle against the darkness, good versus evil, that sort of stuff," she said airily. "We're the good guys, by the way."

"Are you now?" Scott murmured.

"Now, now, Jubes," a voice interrupted. "Can't tell 'im everythin' 'bout us." Two figures appeared, one with gray skin and black hair while the other was dressed in black from the nose down. The one with gray skin grinned at Scott in greetings.

"So, who are you? And what are you doin' here in Trakia?"

"Another group of good guys," he replied. 'Jubes' laughed at that and Scott gave her a lopsided grin. "As to why we're here, I don't know if I can trust you."

"We're waitin' fer the Harbingers," the other one spoke. Scott blinked at his voice, wondering why it sounded like it was in his head. His companions both looked at him before they nodded.

"Harbingers? Who are they?" Scott asked, frowning.

"How about we do introductions first and then talk business?" the Asyian suggested. She stood up and stretched before she faced Scott again. "I'm Jubilee, gray-skin there is Skin and this fellow here is Chamber."

_Chamber?_ Scott blinked at the man. _Is he the one Remy met?_

"Y'know Gambit, huh?" Chamber said, tilting his head and startling Scott. "Still alive an' kickin' too, I see."

"You're a mind-reader," Scott said flatly.

"Have ter be one," Chamber said. "I'm lackin' th' ability t' speak." He pulled the cloth away from his mouth and Scott was surprised to see fire floating up from there.

"So what are you doing here?" Skin asked as Chamber replaced the mask. Scott turned to look at him and sighed.

"Dark Riders," he replied. "We got information that they'll be meeting here for some reason. I have a bad feeling about said meeting so I want to find out what's going on."

"Meeting, huh?" Jubilee said with a frown. She looked up at Chamber and Skin. "There's definitely a Harbinger coming."

"Who d'you think they're goin' tah meet?" Chamber asked before Scott could ask what a Harbinger was.

"Phoenix Forces," he replied. Chamber, Skin and Jubilee exchanged looks before Chamber nodded slowly. "Makes sense," he said. "Can't have that, now can we?" He crossed his arms, looking at the sky with a thoughtful expression before he looked at Scott.

"There's an abandoned warehouse at the east edge of the city," Chamber said. "From what information I could get out, there's goin' t' be a meetin' there in two nights, most likely Dark Riders an' a Harbinger."

"What's a Harbinger?" Scott asked. Chamber shrugged in response.

"Bringer of bad news," he replied.

"In this case," Jubilee added, "the bringer of death."

"We don' know how many there are," Chamber said, "but from some of the rumors they're powerful enough to take down a city. Usually when Dark Riders are around, there's at least one Harbinger there t' keep 'em under control."

The idea of an uber-powerful sorcerer with crazy-looking creatures didn't really appeal to Scott. He frowned to himself, crossing his arms as he looked at the ground and thought quickly about the situation. The Dark Riders were fast, but Hank and Kurt should be able to keep up with them. If the Phoenix Forces were indeed there - and Scott was positive about that - Rogue and Piotr should be able to fend them off. The Harbinger was the wild card in this case and Scott wasn't sure if he would be able to take him on, even with Kitty's help.

"We'll deal with the Harbinger," Chamber said, interrupting Scott's thoughts. Scott looked up, frown still on his face. "We've got issure with 'em."

"A vendetta of sorts?" Scotts asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Somethin' like that," Chamber said with a shrug. "Inn's down that way. See you later." He abruptly turned and left, Skin and Jubilee quietly following after him until they disappeared from sight. Scott turned after a moment and started down the street where Chamber had gestured towards.

--------------------

"There's a warehouse out there all right," Kurt said with a nod. "Piotr and I noticed it when we were exploring." Scott nodded in response as he leaned back against his chair.

"What's the terrain look like?" he asked. Kurt straightened as he looked up at the ceiling, a frown on his face.

"Rocky," he answered.

"There was a lot of junk out there as well," Piotr said. "The place looks rather run-down, after all."

"Hm." Scott thought for a bit then nodded to himself. He leaned forward in his chair and glanced around the common room. "Where are the others?"

"They'll be here soon," Kurt said.

"Okay." Scott put an elbow onto the table, leaning his head against a hand as he thought about what he was going to say. He already knew that if Chamber and the others would be handling the Harbinger, it would give him more people to fight against the Dark Riders and the Phoenix forces. The thing was the Phoenix forces might be led by a sorcerer and, like the Harbinger, would be a wildcard in his plans.

"They're here," Piotr said, interrupting Scott's thoughts. Scott looked up to see Hank, Kitty and Rogue enter the room, making a beeline towards them the moment they spotted him.

"How'd it go?" Rogue asked as she and the others sat down. Scott raised his other hand to rub the side of his nose.

"Dark Riders are definitely here," he said quietly. "I got in a fight with three of them." The others all stiffened. Rogue's eyes narrowed at him while Kitty nervously glanced around the common room.

"What do you think of them?" Hank asked.

"Interesting," Scott said. "They're fast, so I want you, Kurt and Kitty to take them on. You have to watch out for their arms though. They're about the same length as their height and they have blades at the ends, not hands."

"Demons?" Kurt hissed.

"I doubt it," Scott said, "but just the same, watch yourselves. The good thing is once you hit them hard, they stay down."

"Oh thank the Goddess," Kitty murmured.

"Rogue, Piotr and I will be handling the Phoenix forces," Scott continued. "The meeting is going to be in two nights and... And we'll be having back-up."

"Back-up?" Rogue asked. "Who's back-up?"

"Chamber."

"...wait, Chamber?" Kitty said. "Isn't he the one in Remy's story?"

"Yes," Scott said with a nod. "Apparently he and some others have a problem with the Dark Riders. From what I can understand, Dark Riders always have a controller with them, someone known as a Harbinger. Chamber and his people will be taking on the Harbinger, which leaves one more thing."

"Who's leading the Phoenix forces," Rogue answered.

"Exactly," Scott said with a nod.

"Ah'll take 'im," Rogue said. Scott gave her a startled look, taking in her determined expression. He couldn't help but frown at her and Rogue leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms as she looked back at Scott. "Ah should be able tah knock 'im out for a while wit' mah powers."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Kurt asked, sounding worried. "I don't want you to start going nuts on us from their memories or their powers..."

"Don't worry about me," Rogue said, looking over at Kurt. "Ah can take 'em out an' hopefully use that power to take out others."

"Fine," Scott said with a tone of finality. "Piotr and I will distract the Phoenix forces while Rogue goes for their leader. I want you all to keep your guard up and don't go around the city alone. I don't want you to get into a fight with the Dark Riders alone."

"But you--," Kitty started. Scott held up a hand to stop her.

"I got lucky," Scott said. "A sorcerer came in just in time to help me. You'll probably meet her when we go the warehouse." Kitty nodded in response and Scott looked around the table.

"Get some rest for now, people," he said softly, "and watch your back."

* * *

The next day went by fairly quickly as did the night and then it was the day of the meeting. Scott couldn't help but worry about the whole situation, from whether or not Chamber and his people could be trusted to take on the Harbinger to if his people were ready to take on the enemies to how safe Rogue would be after she knocked out the sorcerer for the Phoenix forces. 

That last one made Scott's chest tighten and he couldn't figure out why.

By nightfall, the X-Men were by the abandoned warehouse, waiting for Chamber and his people to come and watching over the warehouse. They didn't have to wait long when Chamber, Skin and Jubilee, followed by a young woman with pink skin and long claw-like nails appeared.

"You came," Scott said in greeting.

"You din' think I would?" Chamber replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Couldn't be sure." Scott looked back out at the warehouse. "We've sighted some Dark Riders there, but nobody else so far."

"Night's still young," Chamber said. "Don' you worry your head off 'bout the Dark Riders, we'll take care of 'em." Rogue turned her head to look at them, an eyebrow raised in response.

"There's only four o' yah," she said. "How d'you plan on beatin' them all up?"

"We got our ways," Skin replied in Chamber's stead. "Like the boss said, don't you be worryin'."

"Our guests of honor have arrived," Hank called out quietly. They all turned to look, seeing soldiers of the Phoenix Queen entering the warehouse. Half of them stayed outside and the other half followed a blonde woman inside.

"That's our sorcerer, Ah bet," Rogue said. "Yes," Scott said with a nod.

"There ain't that much soldiers out there," Skin noted. "Should be pretty easy to take out."

"We'll handle it," Scott said, looking over to Skin, "so long as you'll handle those Dark Riders." Skin just grinned in response and looked over at Chamber. Chamber nodded and walked off, followed by the others. Scott turned to look at his team.

"Colossus, Beast, you're with me," Scott commanded, using their codenames. Both Piotr and Hank stiffened slightly at his tone. "We'll take care of the guards outside. Rogue, you'll take Nightcrawler and Shadowcat with you inside the warehouse and deal with the others. We'll join you as soon as we can."

"Got it," Rogue replied. Kurt and Kitty began to move off, Rogue about to follow when Scott caught her arm. She turned back to look at him curiously.

"Watch yourself and don't get hurt that much," Scott said softly, feeling a bit awkward telling that to Rogue. Rogue stared at him, eyes wide before it softened.

"Watch your back," she said with a soft smile and Scott watched her, Kurt and Kitty make their way into the darkness. He had a funny feeling in his chest and he wondered briefly what it was before he turned to Piotr and Hank. Leading them towards their position, Scott mentally prayed to the Storm Goddess to watch over them.

--------------------

The meeting was rudely interrupted by an explosion, followed by lots of fireworks. Both the Harbinger and the Phoenix sorceress were surprised by the attack, and watched as Chamber and Skin appear in the doorway. Kitty went through the walls while Kurt teleported in with Rogue.

"Kill them!" the sorceress screamed and the soldiers attacked. The Dark Riders also attacked and was met with another explosion caused by Chamber. Rogue got her first good look at the man and gaped at the sight of fire coming from his chest before switching her sight onto the blonde sorceress. The sorceress took flight out of the warehouse and Rogue swore in response.

"We got this," Kurt said. "Go!" Glancing at Kurt and Kitty, Rogue gave them a nod and ran out the door. The blond sorceress had picked up a boulder and threw it at Piotr who was in the middle of beating off some Dark Riders and many Phoenix soldiers. Red fire blew away the boulder and Rogue turned to see Scott turn, punching a soldier and firing his red fire at another. The blonde sorceress looked angrily at Scott and Rogue suddenly felt cold, realizing that the woman had set her sight on Scott. She looked around and saw a way up onto the roof of the warehouse and steeling herself, Rogue quickly climbed up onto the roof, just as the blonde dived towards Scott.

"Ah don' think so!" Rogue shouted and, wrenching the gloves off of her hands, she jumped onto the blonde woman's back, one arm slipping around her neck tightly as the other hand clapped onto the back of the blonde's neck. The woman screamed, trying vainly to pull Rogue off of her but Rogue managed to stay on.

"What are you--! Get off! Get off, you bitch!" the blonde screamed, but Rogue held on tightly, gritting her teeth as she felt her powers working, sucking away the memories and powers of the woman.

"I won't let you hurt Cyke!" Rogue hissed into her ears. "I won't let you!" It felt like forever to Rogue, holding onto the blonde woman until the sorceress fell to the ground hard, weakly trying to get Rogue to let go before she stopped moving. Rogue let go of the woman, sitting back and breathing hard. She could barely register the battle raging around her, staring at the unconscious woman on the ground. Absently she reached a foot out and nudged the blonde's hand, seeing it limply do nothing.

_Gotta help Scott_, Rogue thought dazedly. _Gotta get rid of those Phoenix bastards._ She got up just as a soldier appeared before her, a sword raised. Rogue punched without thinking and watched in horror as he went flying through the air, plowing into other soldier before slamming into a tree with a sickening thud. He didn't move as he slid down to the ground, a trail of blood staining wall.

_Strong...! Ah forgot, she's got super strength!_ Rogue thought with a grimace as she quickly picked up her gloves and slipped them back on. _And flight..._ Rogue took off into the air as though it was natural and dived towards a group of Phoenix soldiers who were fighting against Hank and Piotr. Slamming half of the soldiers away, she was back up in the air, feeling satisfied as she watched Hank, Piotr and Scott easily dispatch the rest.

"Retreat!" a soldier bellowed. "Lady Marvel has fallen! Retreat!" Rogue watched as the soldiers began to run, the one who had called for the retreat picking up the fallen sorceress and running away. She slowly flew down, cautiously landing onto the ground and looked for the others. Scott, Hank and Piotr all looked out of breath and, glancing back at the warehouse, Kitty and Kurt looked tired and uninjured. The Dark Riders, she noted, were nowhere to be found.

"Rogue? Are you okay?" Scott asked, his voice worried as he hurried up to her.

"So far," she replied cautiously. She turned to look over at Kurt and Kitty. "How did everything go in the warehouse?"

"Skin, Jubilee and Penance took out most of the Dark Riders," Kitty reported. "I think Chamber went head to head with the Harbinger. The Dark Riders also left before the soldiers for some reason, so we beat up most of those who were left." Scott nodded in response before he glanced back.

"Looks like Chamber and his people are gone," Scott noted. "Didn't even get a chance to thank them."

"I have a feeling we'll see them again," Kurt said. Rogue nodded as well.

"Let's get outta here," she said. "We need ta' get back t' the Speaker--" She went silent then, a hand immediately going to her mouth as her eyes widened in horror. A voice was whispering in her head, saying she had to go see the Speaker, to report the events that happened. What shook Rogue though was the fact that the voice sounded more solid than any of the other voices, overpowering Logan's gruff voice, Bobby's laughter, Scott's warm voice.

_Oh, goddess..._

All the others looked at her, worry immediately on their faces.

"Rogue...?" Scott asked.

"We need t' leave as soon as possible," Rogue whispered. "Ah think something's wrong an' the Professor is the only one who can fix it." Scott gave a nod and gestured to the others who all began to move off. Scott then looked back at her and, handing over her gloves which she gratefully slipped back on, took her hand and began to walk away.

"Don't worry, Rogue," he said. "You're going to be alright."

_Ah hope so, she thought. Ah hope so.  
_

* * *

_Half an hour before the retreat..._

"What do you think you're doing, Master Starsmore?!" the one known as Famine demanded. "They are our enemies!"

"Tell Apocalypse he needs tah rethink the enemies part!" Chamber retorted. "I won't side with people who kill everyone in sight!" He let out a blast at the man who was able to evade it at the last second. Famine floated in the air, fire surrounding him as he glared at Chamber. Chamber gestured towards the warehouse.

"This isn't our fight," Chamber said. "To bring them into the war--!"

"Would give us more power!" Famine retorted.

"No! It would give them more power!" Chamber shot back. "With every humans and sorcerers that fall under them, more of our foe will rise! Has Apocalypse not thought of that?" Famine was quiet and Chamber continued.

"They have no place in the war. Return to Apocalypse and tell him that." Famine was still quiet but he lifted a hand. The Dark Riders suddenly appeared and Famine began to fly away, the creatures following after him.

"Such action will displease our Lord," Famine called out.

"To protect ourselves from the rule of the night," Chamber replied, "I would do so again, even if it displeases him." He watched as they disappeared before he looked down at the ground.

"How goes the battle?" he asked. He could hear footsteps approaching him, feel Skin's presence by his side.

"Those X-Men," Skin said, scratching his head, "they're not too shabby for a bunch of people living in a high house. They should be done finishing those Phoenix goons up in a bit." Chamber nodded as he quietly pulled his mask up, covering up the fire before he turned to look at Skin.

"The others?"

"Are ready to get going," Skin replied. He sighed, glancing back at the warehouse. "You sure y'don't want their help in the war?"

"I'm sure," Chamber said after a moment. "They live in the daylight and the closest ones to us has only hid in the shadows. The night would eat them all alive."

"Hmph," Skin sniffed. Jubilee and Penance finally appeared, the former with a grin on her face and panting while the latter just looked curiously at them. "Let's go, kids. It's back to hunting for us."

-  
-

_There is a war, one which is waged in the darkness. Mortals and sorcerers alike do not know of it, but I do. I've fought them, the demons of the night who prey on the living for blood and I have met their lord and master on the field of battle. We must be vigilant or the undead will rule the living._

- Apocalypse, Leader of the Dark Riders, Master of the Harbingers


	12. Chapter Ten

Title: The Gathering Night  
Author: May Chang  
Genre: slash, action, AU(fantasy)  
Pairings: Havok x Polaris, Wolverine x Mystique, Cyclops + Rogue, Iceman + Northstar, Gambit + Storm, Quicksilver + Storm, past Death!Gambit x Storm  
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.

Author's Note: Sorry it took such a long time to update this next chapter. This was my last semester up at college and I was suffering writer's block for this chapter for some reason, but I hope you all will enjoy it. :) _  
_

* * *

**Chapter Ten**_  
_

* * *

_"The souls of the dead? What of it?" _

_"They wander about on the mortal realm, with nowhere to go." _

_"They'll find their way to their afterlife." _

_"How can you be so callous? You are the God of the Dead! Surely you would help these souls pass on?" _

_"You do it." _

_"What?" _

_"You help them pass on. I could care less about souls." _

_"But... then I would become your secondary." _

_"Is that a problem?" "...No, I don't think it will be."_

- Conversation between the Dark God and the Goddess of the Night

-  
-

The boat landed in Kafylvik and Remy watched in amusement as Jamie stumbled onto the docks, muttering something about thanking the gods for dry land. Rahne and Monet followed after him, amused looks on both their faces. Remy and Ororo walked down as well with Bobby following after them.

"So what now?" Bobby asked.

"We're going to the Grurehofn Inn to meet someone," Ororo said.

"The... what?" All four sorcerers and Remy stared at Ororo who raised an eyebrow.

"The Grurehofn Inn," she repeated.

"...How did you even figure out how to pronounce it the first time?" Jamie asked, eyes wide. "That's like three hundred syllables rolled into one!" Ororo looked amused while Remy snorted in response.

"Well, lead the way," Bobby said. Ororo nodded towards him and walked towards the inn. Remy stepped up next to her, keeping his pace with her.

"So just who are we going to meet, Stormy?" he asked. He grinned at the annoyed expression that crossed her face as she looked up at him.

"I'm sure you know him," she replied sweetly. "After all, you did steal his underpants." There was a squawk from the back and Remy looked back, taking in Bobby and Jamie's imitation of a fish, Rahne's wide eyes and Monet's disgusted look.

"You pervert," Monet said flatly.

"What? No!" Remy said, shaking his head vehemently. "He pissed me off, I was only getting back at him for-- Wait, we're meeting him?" His attention turned back to Ororo who just smiled back at him. Remy cringed and covered his eyes.

"Dark God, take me now..."

It had been a few months since he'd last seen Pietro Maximoff, but the man hadn't really changed since then. Now that Remy thought about it, gods probably didn't really change to begin with. Pietro was sitting in the back of the room, wearing a cloak and a hood that covered half his face. Remy would have totally missed him if Ororo hadn't walked directly up to him and he stood up.

"Storm," Pietro said in greeting. "It has been a long time."

"Far too long, Mateo," she agreed, using one of Pietro's aliases, with a smile before she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. Remy suddenly felt a surge of anger go through him and he frowned to himself, wondering why before he remembered that the Dark God had once loved the Storm Goddess. He approached the two with the others, and Ororo and Pietro both looked at them. Remy could feel Pietro's scowl and he just gave a lazy grin in response.

"Gambit," Pietro growled.

"Mateo," Remy drawled. "Nice to see you again. Found everything yet?"

"Almost." Ororo looked really amused and Remy just smiled brightly at Pietro.

_If I'm going to have to put up with him, I might as well have some fun, damn it._

"What brings you to Nifelleim?" Pietro said, sitting down once again. "And what's with the kids?"

"Kids?!" Jamie protested. "We're not freakin' eight year olds!" They all glared at Pietro and the sorcerer snorted in response.

"By my standards, you're all still in diapers," the man replied.

_Oh yes, compared to a god who has to be at least five hundred years old_, Remy thought. _Maybe I should start calling him gramps. He certainly has the hair-color for it._

"We're looking for someone," Ororo said, heading off another indignant retort from Jamie. "Apparently you are one of the two to lead us to her."

"Her?" The corner of Pietro's lips turned down. "Who?"

"She says her name's Jean," Remy said, crossing her arms. Pietro turned his head to look towards Remy, and Remy could feel the surprise from the man.

"Jean? Why would she...?" He stopped, frowning once again before he shrugged.

"Fine, I'll show you where to find her," he said. Remy and Ororo shared a look before turning their attention back to Pietro.

"You... know where she is?" Ororo asked slowly.

"Yes, I know where she is," Pietro said, standing up with a sigh. "You could call her one of the strays my sister has picked up."

"Ah," Ororo said with a knowing tone. "I should have known. Please, lead the way." Pietro nodded and swept out of the inn. Remy couldn't help but snort softly to himself.

_Always the dramatic exit._

"How far away is this place?" Rahne asked as they all followed after Pietro. Pietro shrugged in response.

"I can't say," he replied. "To me it's only a couple of minutes. For you all? Maybe a couple of days."

"What?"

"Mateo's ability," Remy drawled, "happens to be moving at the speed of light. Think of him as an even more annoying version of JP." He glanced at Bobby who nodded in understanding. The other three just gave Remy a confused look and Remy just grinned at them before he looked forward again.

* * *

Bobby seemed to enjoy the weather more than the others as they followed Pietro towards the heart of Nifelleim. Of course there was the fact that he was the only one who could change into a being of ice. Rahne had gone into her were form because it was a lot warmer than being in her human form and, with Bobby, followed after everyone, making sure no one hostile followed. 

Ororo seemed to be enjoying her time talking to Pietro, who had pulled back the hood to reveal a face that looked like a younger version of Magnus. The four had been most surprised to see the resemblance and Remy found it funny when any one of them would almost call Pietro Professor Lensherr. The Dark God though was stirring almost angrily in the back of Remy's mind and at times, he had to look away from Ororo and Pietro and take a deep breath.

Calming himself was the only way to keep the anger of the Dark God at bay.

They camped by the river that night and Remy had to keep his distance from Pietro and Ororo, ignoring Ororo's frown of confusion as he set up his bedroll. It was agreed over dinner that Bobby would take the first watch, Jamie the second and leaving the third watch to Remy. Remy didn't mind as he slipped into his bedroll and closed his eyes to--

_--the sound of laughing. He stopped, frowning slightly before he turned and walked down the corridor towards the laughing. His kingdom of Mens'ark was usually a dreary place so the sound of laughter was something new to him. A door was slightly opened and he could see a warm glow coming out. He stopped in front of the door and opened it slowly, looking into the room. _

_A fire was cheerfully burning brightly in the fireplace as she sat on the floor with five souls, all children and playing something. He opened the door wider and stepped in, causing the five souls to look up and back up in alarm. She looked up and then turned to look, a confused frown on her face before she realized who had come in. She quickly got up to her feet, brushing off imaginary dust from her skirt as she faced him. _

_"Well, this is a surprise," she said. "I had expected you to be at Wynkana." He clenched his fists at the name of the Storm Goddess's palace and watched as the goddess before him paused then turned to the souls. _

_"Go on. Time to go home," she said gently. The souls all bounced up and down before they disappeared. She turned back to him, a frown on her face. "What's wrong?" _

_"She does not love me anymore," he whispered. Her expression changed to that of sympathy and he quickly continued before she could say anything. "She loves another now. She loves your brother." _

_"Wh-what?" _

_"She loves Pietro," he said, bowing his head as he raised a hand and covered his eyes. Tears burned hotly and he nearly sobbed. "She loves him, Wanda. She loves him." Wanda walked forward and wrapped her arms around him, a hand reaching up to run through his hair. He couldn't help but break down then and--_

--woke up as Jamie shook his awake.

"Huh? What?" Remy said, feeling panic rush through him.

"Hey, it's just me," Jamie whispered. "You okay?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah," Remy said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Just... just a weird dream. My turn to watch?"

"Yeah," Jamie said. "It's been pretty quiet."

"Alright," Remy replied. "Get some sleep." Jamie nodded and headed back to his bedroll as Remy got up and, pulling on his boots and gathering the blanket up with him, headed off towards the watch spot. Settling down, he looked out into the night sky, waiting for the dawn to rise. Soft footsteps coming from the campsite caused him to look back and see Ororo approaching him.

"Hey, 'Ro," he greeted quietly with a smile. She stopped next to him and smiled.

"Remy," she said before settling down next to him.

"What are you doing awake?" he asked, pulling back the blanket to wrap an arm and half the blanket around her. "Shouldn't you be getting some beauty sleep?"

"I wanted to talk to you," she said simply, leaning against him with a shiver. He tugged her closer and she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Oh? What about?" he asked.

"You're avoiding me," she replied.

"Oh." He looked up with a frown. "That's actually not really my fault."

"What?"

"He's mad," Remy explained, pointing to his head as he looked back down at Ororo. "You know how you and Pietro been talking to each other? He's been, I don't know, pacing in the back of my head like some angry lion. It's been kinda annoying me."

"Oh." Ororo looked forward and Remy could feel the tenseness in the goddess's shoulders. He rubbed her back soothingly.

"Hey, it's not your fault," he said quietly. "You can't help it if the guy's still head over heels over you, 'Ro."

"Maybe," she whispered. They were quiet for the rest of the night, watching as the sun rose.

* * *

Ororo stopped suddenly, looking sharply up into the sky. Everybody else stopped, Pietro turning to frown at Ororo for stopping.

"What's wrong?" Remy asked. "Something comes," she said. "Carried by the wind." Remy automatically looked up into the sky, looking for whatever perked Ororo's interest. There was nothing and then--

"Hello, Gambit."

Remy froze, eyes wide as he turned towards the voice behind him. Northstar was floating in the sky, arms crossed and looking down at Remy. The fact that Northstar was alone without his sister caused a moment of confusion for Remy before he turned to face Northstar fully.

"Hello Northstar," he replied easily. "Fancy seeing you out here in the middle of nowhere." Remy noticed Rahne loping up towards him while Bobby followed, icing up. The others were also in defensive position; Remy couldn't be sure about Pietro since his attention was focused on the more dangerous speedster at the moment. Northstar glanced around before focusing onto Pietro.

"Quicksilver," he said. "I don't suppose you have any explanation why you're fraternizing with the enemy?"

_Prettier people_, Remy supplied mentally as he shifted his pack slightly so that he could drop it at a moment's notice. _Gods know there aren't many of those around Nifelleim._ Pietro said nothing as he glared up at Northstar.

The wind suddenly picked up and Northstar threw his arms out, trying to keep his balance in the sky. Monet was in the air in a moment, flying right at him and punching him, sending him plummeting towards the ground. Northstar quickly stopped his freefall, only to get slammed by three Jamies and Rahne onto the ground.

"Well, I feel useless," Bobby said as he stood next to Remy, scratching his iced head. Remy just nodded as he watched the Jamies and Rahne try to keep Northstar down. Northstar was suddenly back in the air and tossed Rahne and one of the Jamie's off. Monet dove to grab Rahne and the Jamie as Ororo took off into the air, just in time as Northstar threw off the other two Jamies. Bobby threw his pack at Remy who caught in at the last moment in surprise and was up in the air, creating ice beneath him up and flying right at the sorcerer. Northstar turned and Remy could swear that the man actually _hesitated_ before he was tackled by Bobby.

Remy quickly dropped Bobby's pack, pulling a couple of cards out and charging them as he ran towards the falling pair. Northstar somehow righted himself and was trying vainly to get Bobby off of him, who was beginning to ice Northstar up.

"Bobby, get off of him," Remy shouted. Bobby glanced down and was about to say something when Monet flew right at them, slamming into the two down towards the ground. Remy's eyes widened as the three came flying towards him and he jerked back just as they hit the ground. Monet was up, backing away from them while shaking her head. Bobby was sitting up while Northstar looked unconscious. Remy quickly made his way to Bobby then paused as he blinked at a sound. The sound continued and Remy frowned as he looked around before he looked down at the feet.

"Oh shit," he said before the ground disappeared beneath him.

--------------------

"Uh, you alright, Remy?"

Remy sat up with a groan, scanning the vicinity before he looked over at Bobby. Bobby was already de-iced, looking around the place as he rubbed his head before picking up his pack. Apparently when the ground went, it swallowed not only them but also the pack Remy had thrown.

"I'm getting too old for this shit," Remy grumbled as he stood up, checking that his pack was still with him. Bobby just gave him an amused grin as he slung his pack over his should before he walked over to Northstar's prone form, kneeling down to check on the man. Remy followed after Bobby and frowned down at Northstar's body before he nudged a limp hand with his foot. "I think he's dead."

"He's just unconscious," Bobby retorted as he glared up at Remy.

"Well, leaving him here would make him as good as dead."

"We're not leaving him here!"

"We're not?"

"Hell, no! Just because _you_ don't like him doesn't mean you should let him _die_!" Bobby nearly shouted in indignant righteousness. His voice echoed through the cavern and Remy couldn't help but wince.

"Alright, alright, we'll bring him along! But just for the record, I am _not_ carrying him," Remy said. "He eats like twice his body mass in food, he has to be heavier than he looks." Northstar suddenly snorted and Bobby scrambled back up to his feet, icing up.

"I am _not_ fat," Northstar mumbled as he slowly sat up. "And I do _not_ eat that much, Gambit." Remy just gave him a lazy grin as he fingered a card. Northstar looked around him then looked at Bobby and Remy before he sighed.

"Two against one," he sighed. "I surrender."

"Usually that doesn't stop you from trying to beat people up," Remy said slowly, blinking at the sorcerer in confusion. Northstar said nothing, although for some reason he was pointedly not looking at Bobby. Remy could feel himself gape at Northstar as realization hit him. "You're surrendering for _Icy_ here?!"

Bobby made a funny choking noise at that while Northstar flushed. Remy clapped his free hand over his eyes and groaned.

_This just isn't my day, he thought with a sigh._

--------------------

"They're still alive," Monet said, opening her eyes and breathing a sigh of relief. "So is the Phoenix sorcerer. I can't make contact with them though."

"Why not?" Jamie asked, sounding worried. Monet turned to look at him.

"They're too far away," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "I could barely hear Bobby to begin with and I can barely read Remy when he's standing a foot from me, contacting him is entirely out of the question. How they managed to survive the fall is an entirely different story."

"There isn't anyone else around," Rahne reported as she loped back into view. She had disappeared earlier to see if anyone had accompanied Northstar. "He came alone."

"This isn't good," Pietro said tightly. "Northstar is here. Damn it, you know he's loyal to the Speaker."

"We'll have to worry about that later," Ororo said, raising her hand. "For now, we must continue on."

"What about Bobby and Remy?" Rahne asked, a low growl in her voice due to her were-form. Ororo shook her head in response.

"None of us have the ability move the rocks away to get to them," she said sadly. "They must look for another way out." Jamie bit his lip while Rahne looked down at the ground, a worried look on her face.

"Let's go," Pietro said gruffly. "I want to get back to the capital as soon as I can."

"Of course," Ororo replied with a nod. Pietro turned and continued on, followed by Ororo. Monet, Rahne and Jamie all looked at each before they nodded and followed at them.

--------------------

"We what?" Remy stared at Bobby as though the man had sprouted another head. Northstar was staring at Bobby as well as Bobby gave an annoyed sigh.

"We bring him along," Bobby said, pointing at Northstar. "Who knows what we'll meet down here, we need all the people we can get!"

"You must be insane," Northstar said. "Gambit, I do believe I've found some more insane than you."

"Excuse me, but I'm not insane," Bobby said with a sniff. "I'm practical."

"Uh huh," Remy muttered under his breath. "Dumping white paint over Emma is practical. Yeah." Northstar raised an eyebrow while Bobby scowled.

"Well, he hasn't tried to kill either of us yet," Bobby said. "And dumping white paint on Emma **was** practical! She didn't need to put on clothes when she's like practically naked every day!"

"Fine. _Fine!_" Remy said, throwing his hands up. "He comes with us! Let's go then!" Bobby grinned at Northstar who just sighed and followed after Remy.

"Alright! Let's go, JP!"

"Excuse me?!"

"Dark God, take me now..."

* * *

The first night - or what Remy would assume to be night as being so deep underground, it was difficult to tell what the time was - was particularly strained. Northstar, or Jean-Paul as Remy now thought of him, was on edge as he sat across the fire from Remy and Bobby. Remy could feel the paranoia radiating from the man, but under the paranoia there was a spark of curiosity directed towards Bobby as well as something else, something that felt like longing. Remy puzzled over it, wondering why Jean-Paul, a man who seemed so absolutely aloof to everything and everyone, would be curious about Bobby.

Bobby, on the other hand, was chatting openly to Jean-Paul. Sometime during his ramble, he had taken off his jacket and handed it over to Jean-Paul who had hesitantly taken it and put it on. Remy could tell that even at such a cold temperature, Bobby felt nothing, evident by the lack of breath appearing in the cold air.

"...and that's why you should never put the blue stuff with the orange stuff!" Bobby finished cheerfully. "Man, that explosion was the best though!"

"I'm... sure it was," Jean-Paul said slowly, rubbing his hands as he looked at Bobby.

"Say, why _were_ you out in the middle of nowhere?" Bobby asked, suddenly changing topics. "As much as I like the cold, even **I** wouldn't want to hang around here." Jean-Paul and Remy blinked, both caught off-guard by the question. Remy turned his head to look at Jean-Paul who leaned back and crossed his arms.

"What were _you_ doing in the middle of nowhere in the first place?" he asked.

"Searching for hot springs," Bobby instantly replied. "The girls love 'em, we get to oogle them when they're naked, everything is peachy." Remy had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at the response. Jean-Paul, on the other hand, didn't look so amused.

"You're going the wrong way then," he replied with a sigh. "I get out of the city, away from the morons and, lo and behold, I still get saddled with morons."

"Are you calling me stupid?" Bobby cried, outraged.

"Not stupid," Jean-Paul said. "I said moron."

"Do you _like_ being on ice, because I _will_ freeze your ass!"

"That's if you can catch me first."

"Oh, _sure_, wave the speed and flight power in front of me, why don't you? You forget, I got the home-field advantage here, seeing as we're in a cave full of _ice and snow_."

"And that should scare me why?"

_I **did** tell Bobby that we should leave him_, Remy mused. He leaned back, watching in bemusement as Jean-Paul and Bobby continued to fling insults at one another.

"Gods above, are you _always_ this pissy?"

"I can't help but be, as you say, 'pissy' because apparently I'm surrounded by fools."

"Apparently you have a pole up your ass."

"My ass is pole-free. Your two friends at the Institute are another matter."

Bobby opened his mouth to say something then froze, staring at Jean-Paul in surprise.

"Wait, you actually _listened_ to what I said to you at the Institute?" Bobby asked incredulously. Remy nearly fell over laughing as he watched Jean-Paul's eyes widened in horror and a flush creep onto his face. "And I was rambling too! Geez, _nobody_ listens to me when I'm rambling, you should get like a gold star or something for actually listening to me."

"I think he'd like the 'or something' for listening to you ramble," Remy said with a straight face. Inside he was twisting around with laughter, watching as Jean-Paul sent a scathing glare at him. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Huh?" Bobby asked.

"Shut up, Gambit," Jean-Paul grated out.

"Oh, but you know you do," Remy said, voice trembling slightly with mirth.

"What?" Bobby said.

"I swear, I will kill you when this is over," Jean-Paul growled.

"No you won't," Remy choked out as he started to shake with silent laughter.

"Huh?" Bobby asked again. Remy couldn't take it and fell over laughing. "Re-uh, Gambit? What's going on? Why are you laughing? And should I be worried now that JP here looks like he's going to murder you?" Remy gave Bobby a wave as he tried to get his laughing under control.

"Nothing, nothing," he replied, snickering. "He won't kill me, don't worry."

"I'm going to kill you," Jean-Paul reiterated. "No, you won't," Remy said cheerfully.

"You know I can kick your ass anytime, any day and besides, he won't like it if we try and kill each other." Jean-Paul looked over at Bobby then back at Remy with a scowl.

"I hate you," Jean-Paul growled.

"And I still don't get what's going on," Bobby added.

--------------------

It took them another two days of traveling before they found an exit from the caverns. Remy breathed a sigh of relief as they exited the caverns, looking around. He blinked at the sight of smoke coming from over a hill and glanced over at Bobby before he started towards it. "

What the heck are people doing out here in the middle of nowhere?" Bobby asked as he and Jean-Paul followed after Remy. Remy shrugged, glancing back at Jean-Paul curiously. The sorcerer made no move to fly away from them, instead following after him with Bobby. Remy raised an eyebrow as he caught Jean-Paul's eyes and watched as Jean-Paul looked away quickly from Remy, a slight flush covering his cheek.

_Still curious about him, I see._ Amused, Remy turned his attention back towards the smoke, crossing over the hill to see a cabin. As the three approached, the door suddenly opened and a red-hair woman stepped out. The sight of the woman sent a sudden realization through Remy and he knew in an instant who she was.

"Hello," the redhead called out cheerfully as she waved at them. "You finally came! I was wondering if you were ever going to show up!"

"Hello Jean," Remy called out with a grin. He could feel Bobby's surprise and Jean-Paul confusion from behind him, but he ignored them, making his way towards her. "We finally meet."

"Yes," she said. "It is good to finally meet you face to face, Remy. Come in, it's cold out there and we still have to wait for the Lady of Storms and the Lightning God to arrive." Jean shooed the three of them in, closing the door behind them. Remy looked around the room to see another woman with brown hair sitting by the fireplace and reading a book.

"Hello, Wanda," Remy said then blinked in surprised at the two words that came out of his mouth. Wanda just smiled, placing her book down and standing up.

"Let me fix you three some tea," she said before she walked towards the kitchen. Jean ushered them into the room and Remy sat down on the seat next to the chair Wanda had been seated in, leaving the couch for Bobby and Jean-Paul. He pulled off his jacket and handed it over to Jean who also took Jean-Paul's jacket and left with them in her arms. Bobby sat down onto the sofa with a sigh of relief, stretching his legs out and leaned back. Jean-Paul looked at the couch then at Bobby he sat down. Remy could feel some emotion buzzing through Jean-Paul, confusion mixed with something akin to... panic?

"Are you going to tell the Speaker about this?" Remy asked Jean-Paul seriously, leaning back in his seat and watching Jean-Paul carefully. Bobby's attention was instantly on Jean-Paul, a guarded look on his face while Jean-Paul frowned at Remy. "You know that we will have to beat you up if you do."

"I like to see you try," Jean-Paul said with a sniff, "but... we'll see." Wanda and Jean both came into the room, Wanda's hands holding two mugs and Jean holding onto one. Wanda handed the two steaming mugs over to Jean-Paul and Bobby, the latter thanking her cheerfully and the former with a nod of thanks. Jean gave Remy the mug that she had and he thanked her for it.

"Who are you?" Jean-Paul asked as he looked at Jean. Jean looked at him before she settled herself on the arm of Remy's seat.

"Who do you think I am?" she asked.

"You look like the Speaker," he said, "but you're not cold enough." Bobby choked and began coughing. Remy could feel the surprise emanating from him and raised an eyebrow as he looked at Jean. Jean had a thoughtful look on her face before she nodded.

"Well, I'd answer now, but apparently our other honored guests have arrived."

"Huh?" Bobby replied intelligently. Wanda was already at the door, opening it.

"Pietro!"

"Hello, Wanda." Pietro and Ororo stepped into the room and Gambit grimaced at the thought of what was going to happen. "I have to get to the capital soon. I--" Pietro broke off, eyes wide as he stared at Remy, Bobby and Jean-Paul.

"Hey," Remy called out cheerfully, hoping to stall Pietro from blowing up. "What took you people? We've been wai--"

"What the hell are you doing here, Northstar?" Pietro grounded out. Jamie, Rahne and Monet stepped into the room, Monet shutting the door behind her and they with Ororo all peered into the room.

"He's our prisoner," Bobby said. Jean-Paul just sipped at his mug and shrugged, pointedly not looking at Pietro.

"Pietro, please don't start a fight," Wanda said. Pietro glared at Jean-Paul before he looked away with a huff. "Thank you. May I take your coats?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Jamie said awkwardly. He and the others all took off their jackets and handed it over to Wanda, who blinked when Pietro took all the coats and stomped off.

"I told you his temper was horrible," Wanda said, sounding a tad embarrassed as she looked at Jean. "I'll just... go get some more tea." Jean nodded as Wanda disappeared into the back before she looked at Ororo.

"It is good to see you, Storm Goddess," Jean said calmly. All eyes turned to Ororo and Remy could feel the shock hitting him like a ton of stones. He winced at it, watching as Ororo nodded in response.

"Who are you?" Ororo asked, crossing her arms. "You look..."

"Like the Speaker? So I have been told," Jean said with a nod towards Jean-Paul.

"No, like my sister goddess," Ororo said stiffly. Jean leaned up against the back of the seat, glancing at Remy.

"And like Remy looks like the Dark God?" Jean asked lightly. All eyes turned to Remy this time and Remy just gave them all a sheepish grin.

"Yes," Ororo said. "Are you Her reincarnated?"

"No," Jean replied automatically. "Nor is Remy here the Dark God reincarnated. Please," she held up a hand before Ororo could interrupt, "I will explain." Wanda and Pietro both entered the room now, Pietro without a jacket and they all held mugs, Wanda holding onto three. Pietro handed a mug over to Ororo who took it while Wanda handed out the three mugs to Jamie, Rahne and Monet, who all thanked her.

"Who are you?" Ororo asked. "_What_ are you?"

"My name is Jean Grey," the redhead replied, "and I am an avatar."

-  
-

_It is believed that the gods can act in the mortal realm through a chosen. The chosen could be considered a prophet or a hero for whoever the gods chooses, both good and bad luck will follow. These chosen of the gods are known as avatars._

- Charles Xavier, "Essay of the Gods"


	13. Interlude II

Title: The Gathering Night  
Author: May Chang  
Genre: slash, action, AU(fantasy)  
Pairings: Havok x Polaris, Wolverine x Mystique, Cyclops + Rogue, Iceman + Northstar, Gambit + Storm, Quicksilver + Storm, past Death!Gambit x Storm  
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.

* * *

**Interlude II**

* * *

**Part One**

"Still alive, I see," the woman sneered, leaning back on her throne and crossing her legs. She raised a hand up to prop her head as she watched the man step out of the shadows and into the flickering light. "How are you doing, Sinister?" "

Quite well, Speaker, quite well," the man replied with a smile, revealing sharp teeth. Madelyne Pryor, Speaker of the Phoenix Queen, smiled right back at him, not in the least disturbed by the sight of the man before her. "And how goes everything here?"

"Everything goes well," she replied. "The people of the Hand have handled their part of our agreement quiet well, now it rests on the other."

"And then you and your people would sweep right in," Sinister said, nodding. "Everything is going as planned, I see."

"Of course," Madelyne replied. "My Queen has told me everything."

"Then may I ask a request of you?" he asked. Madelyne tilted her head away from her hand, a spark of curiosity in her eyes.

"Step up," she said, sitting up and gesturing Sinister to come forward. He stepped forward and took her hand, brushing his lips against the back of her hand. "What is it that you want, Sinister?"

"In Wehles," he said, letting her hand go and straightening, "there are some... sorcerers I am interested in."

"From Xavier's school," she said, raising an eyebrow. He smiled at her.

"You know me well, Madelyne."

"Of course I do. Who is it that you want?"

"Two young men," Sinister replied. "They... interest me."

"I see." Madelyne smiled and stood up from her throne, walking up to Sinister and wrapped her arms around him. Her mouth was inches away from his as she looked up into his red on black eyes. "And... I suppose you have something in return for these... young men, yes?"

"Oh yes, I suppose I do," he breathed, slowly closing the gape between the two. Madelyne smiled before turning her face away from Sinister to look out into the shadows.

"My dear Shadow King," she said, "are you enjoying the show?" There was a chuckle before a petit Asyian girl stepped into the light, amusement on her face.

"Of course," she replied. "How could I not? Hello, Sinister,"

"Shadow King," Sinister greeted, stepping away from Madelyne.

"It seems we both have someone of interested in Xavier's school," the Shadow King said, crossing her arms. "How fortunate."

"Are you still sore about your defeat?" Madelyne asked coyly, sitting back down onto her throne. The Shadow King scowled at her.

"Which is why I want him," she snarled. "What better way to fuck with a man's life than to take over him?"

"Don't tell me you no longer like your current body?"

"Oh, this body is still quite useful," the Shadow King replied with a smile. "I do prefer to be in a man's body though. After I have Xavier's body, I think I have some... other uses for her. But enough about me, Madelyne. What of our plans for world domination?"

"There have been some mishaps," Madelyne said, a frown crossing her face. "Xavier's whelps took out one of my most loyal subjects just a few days ago. She has yet to awake and, even if she does, I doubt she'll even know who she is. And then there is the subject of the key..."

"Gambit still has it then," the Shadow King said, annoyance crossing her face. She turned to look at Sinister. "Sinister, your thief is most annoying."

"But he is most interesting," he replied with a smile. The Shadow King snorted in response.

"Psylocke and Elektra will retrieve the key," the Shadow King said. "You know that the Hand will not go back on their word, but once they have the key is another matter."

"They'll be loyal," Madelyne said with a smile. The torches around the room seemed to brightened suddenly and Madelyne's eyes burned orange for a moment before turning back to normal. "Don't worry about that, my Shadow King."

* * *

**Part Two**

Jean-Paul woke up with a jolt, confusion running through his mind as he tried to remember where he was and hearing the warm echoing laugh of someone. Blinking into the darkness he realized that he was sitting in bed at his manor and, judging from the fact that it was still dark, it was still really late at night. He flopped back down with a groan, rubbing his eyes as he tried to remember what had caused him to wake up in the first place. His thoughts turned to ice and Jean-Paul groaned again as he realized what he had been dreaming about.

_Him_, he thought sourly. _That boy from the Institute._ Ever since the battle, he had been dreaming about the one called Iceman and Jean-Paul couldn't figure out why for the life of him. The situation hadn't really happened since...

Since...

_Don't think about it_, he thought angrily. _He's dead and gone, and besides, he was Jeanne-Marie's. He was never mine to begin with._ Jean-Paul turned onto his side, trying to go back to sleep. When it proved fruitless, he let out an annoyed sigh and sat up again. Rubbing his eyes, he glared out into the darkness. When the darkness proved immune to his glares, Jean-Paul got out of bed, pulled on a robe and slipped on his slippers before leaving his room via the balcony.

A midnight flight sounded like a good idea to clear his head.

His breath freezing in the air, Jean-Paul floated above the city, looking at the dimly-lit streets below. The port was far off in the distance and Jean-Paul could see the boats anchored there, floating up and down in time to the tide.

"Can't sleep?"

He turned to see Jeanne-Marie flying slowly towards him.

"Neither can you, I see," he replied, crossing his arms. He was slightly cold and again, his thoughts turned to ice. He looked away from Jeanne-Marie, scowling out into the night again. He could feel Jeanne-Marie's curious look at him, but he ignored her for now.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly and Jean-Paul turned his head slightly to look at his sister before he looked away.

"Nothing," he snapped.

"Jean-Paul, you're a horrible liar," she said with a snort. "What. Is. Wrong." He was silent, glaring at the night before he sighed and closed his eyes.

"I don't know," he said softly. "I think I've gone mad though."

"Who hasn't?" she replied and he laughed in response.

"You would think I've gone mad though, Jeanne-Marie," he replied with a sad smile. "I think... I think I'm in love."

"Jean-Paul, that's wonderful!"

"With an enemy."

"...What?" Jeanne-Marie stared at him in disbelief. "Oh dear..."

"Yes, I suppose that is the correct response to being in love with one of the enemy," Jean-Paul said.

"Don't get snide on me," Jeanne-Marie retorted. "...Do you think she would be willing to change to our side?"

"No, I don't think he is." He looked away from her, waiting for her response.

"Oh." A pause. "Wait. He?"

"Yes."

"Have you always...?"

"Yes."

"Oh. So is that why you were always acting so funny around Walter?" He jerked his head up to stare at her in horror and she looked back at him calmly. "Ah. I see."

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "He was always yours, but I couldn't help it."

"No, no," she said, raising a hand. "I understand, Jean-Paul. That's why I think you should look for this guy that you like and decide if you want to switch side." Jean-Paul stared at her in disbelief.

"What?" he choked out.

"You've been kind of out of it for a long time, Jean-Paul," his sister said. "I've seen you, Jean-Paul, even before Walter came into our lives. Your integrity isn't right as one of the Phoenix. Maybe if you had been born before the Fall and before She went mad, but now, you seem more suited for some god with more honor than Her."

"Jeanne-Marie, what are you saying? You know that--"

"It's blasphemous? Yes, I know that," she interrupted. "But you're fighting because our father and our forefathers were always loyal to the Phoenix Queen. You know they had less honor than bandits. Jean-Paul, you're far too honorable to be one of the Phoenix. I hate to even say it but you seem more of a follower of the Gray Lord than anyone, so... just go find him, talk with him and decide."

Jean-Paul stared at her, stunned at what she said.

"But," he started, "what about you?"

"Don't worry about me," she said with a smile. "Think about yourself for once, Jean-Paul, and be happy."

Jeanne-Marie's words were still in his mind when Jean-Paul saw him again. At first Jean-Paul thought it was just a trick of the eye, thoughts of ice and the young man still drifting in and out until he realized that the man was really here.

_And Gambit is here as well._ He wanted to go and capture Gambit right there but Jeanne-Marie's words made his pause.

_"Think about yourself for once, Jean-Paul, and be happy."_

Iceman - _no_, Jean-Paul thought, _that woman at the Institute had called him Bobby. His name is Bobby._ - was talking cheerfully to another young man, a smile on his handsome face, and Jean-Paul couldn't help but wonder what it would be like for Iceman to smile at him.

_Just this once_, he thought. _Just this once._ And he followed after them.


	14. Chapter Eleven

Title: The Gathering Night   
Author: May Chang  
Genre: slash, action, AU(fantasy)  
Pairings: Havok x Polaris, Wolverine x Mystique, Cyclops + Rogue, Iceman + Northstar, Gambit + Storm, Quicksilver + Storm, past Death!Gambit x Storm  
Spoilers: None  
Disclaimer: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.  
Author's Note: I had posted this chapter on my LJ on Saturday and finally let me upload this this morning. Super. I had the worst case of writer's block for this chapter so don't be surprised if it sucks very badly towards the end. I just knew I needed to get them into Trakia and, well, I'm kinda excited for the next chapter. :)

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

* * *

_What will be will be. I just wish that Fate can be changed..._

- Destiny's Diaries Vol. I

-  
-

"My name is Jean Grey," the redhead replied, "and I am an avatar."

"An avatar?" Ororo frowned at the word. "What is that?"

"A mortal incarnation of a god," Wanda replied, settling down in her seat by Remy. Pietro stood next to her, a frown on his face while the others drank their tea, watching the scene unfold. "In this case, Jean is the avatar of the Phoenix Queen."

"But what of the Speaker?" Jean-Paul asked, frowning as he sat up. "She is a prophet of the Phoenix Queen."

"Yes, she is," Jean said with a nod. "And she is also an avatar like myself."

"How is it possible for there to be **two** avatars of one god?" Monet asked, frowning. "It isn't possible."

"In this case, it is _very_ possible," Jean replied. "You think of the Phoenix Queen in terms of one distinct person, while She is in fact two distinct persona. There is the Phoenix Queen, the Lady of Life, and there is the Phoenix Queen, the Goddess of Hell."

"Wait, you mean to say that the Phoenix Queen has some sort of mental problems?" Bobby asked. Ororo bristled at that, glaring at Bobby who quickly raised his hands and leaned away from her. "I mean no disrespect, ma'am, but that's what it sounds like to me."

"You misunderstand me," Jean said gently. "Think of it this way: all people have sides to themselves, correct? Like a gentle side, a violent side or perhaps a whimsical side."

"That sound like Jamie," Monet said, glancing over at the sorcerer.

"I **am** the ultimate poster boy for that," he said, grinning. Jean smiled at that before she returned to the explanation.

"Sometime before the madness, something happened to the Phoenix Queen," she continued. "Somehow all of the sides that were considered good and the sides considered evil were separated. I am unsure as to how that happened myself, but when those two sides split, all the good was sealed away." Jean pulled from under her shirt an emerald necklace. Immediately Remy sat up, staring at it as he felt a presence emanating from it. Ororo had also sat up while Wanda and Pietro both stiffened.

"Say hello to the Phoenix Queen," Jean said softly. "The good side of her, anyways."

"Gaia...," Ororo whispered, eyes glued to the necklace. "It's Phoenix..."

"So you're saying," Bobby said slowly, "that you're the good, protector-of-mortals side of the Phoenix Queen while the Speaker is the evil, eating babies side of the Phoenix Queen. Right?"

"Essentially, yes," Jean replied, putting away the necklace. Remy sat back as the presence disappeared from the room, watching as Wanda and Pietro relaxed. Ororo looked away, a sad look crossing her face for a brief moment before her expression turned serious again and she looked at Jean.

"...Okay, I get that. What I _don't_ get is how Remy here is the avatar of a _dead_ god?"

"Is there an end to death?" Jean replied easily. "The three constants are always life, death and the earth, and the first two can never end."

"And the earth?" Rahne asked, glancing at Ororo.

"She lives and she dies," Ororo replied quietly. "But that is not important right now."

"Yes," Jean said, her tone changing business like. "I will be coming with you in fighting against the Speaker and her minions."

"As will I," Wanda added, earning a surprised look from Pietro and Ororo.

"Storm Goddess... no, Ororo," Jean said, correcting herself, "we should find your other secondary if we are to be successful against them."

"Of course," Ororo said, "but... we never found my first secondary." Jean blinked at her with a confused expression before she looked at Remy.

"I _did_ tell you that the Lightning God and Cold One were to lead you to me, right?" she asked.

"Yes, you did," Remy said. "We found the Lightning God but not the Cold One." Jean-Paul and Bobby exchanged looks before the former scowled at Remy.

"You'd _think_ it'd be obvious to you," Jean-Paul said, sounding extremely annoyed. "Gods above, I really am surrounded by morons! Who in this room seems to like the cold?" Remy blinked at Jean-Paul before turning to give Bobby a surprised look then turning to look at Jean, straightening in his seat.

"Can't be," he said dazedly.

"It's so obvious, isn't it?" Jean noted, looking at Remy with smile.

"Excuse me, but what's going on?" Bobby interrupted, giving them a confused look.

"I would like to know as well," Ororo added, her tone slightly chilly. Remy turned to look at her, still feeling rather dazed by the revelations.

"Bobby's your secondary, 'Ro," he replied. "Gods, I'm an idiot."

"Took you awhile to figure that out," Jean-Paul said before he took a sip of his tea.

"Oh, shut up."

"Secondary to the Storm Goddess?" Bobby said, frowning. "Um... what?"

"I'll... talk to you about it later, Bobby," Ororo replied, sounding a bit unsteady. "The Master of the Flame... Where do you think he is, Jean?"

"Unfortunately I do not know," Jean said, shaking her head. "The only reason why I was able to tell who the Cold One was because you and Remy both were around him."

"What are we going to do about him?" Pietro asked, glaring at Jean-Paul. Jean-Paul glared back at him and Remy could practically feel the temperature of the room plummet. Even Bobby shivered and he was use to the cold. "He's heard everything you've said and he's loyal to the Speaker."

"Is he now?" Jean said as the same time as Jean-Paul's, "Not really." Jean-Paul gave Jean a startled look while Pietro's eyes narrowed. Jean just waved at Jean-Paul to finish.

"What do you mean, not really?" Pietro asked. Jean-Paul gave quick glance at Bobby before he sneered at Pietro.

"Call it a crisis of faith," Jean-Paul said. He paused then reluctantly added, "That, and Aurora and I feel that I should... follow my own moral integrity than the Speakers."

_And I say it's more than just 'moral integrity' on your part, Jean-Paul_, Remy thought.

"We'll go back to the capital," Jean-Paul continued, "but I won't say anything about this. You have my word."

"You know he'll keep it too, Pietro," Remy said. "Gods know, he's got more honor than me."

"You're a thief, you _have_ no honor."

"I do _so_ have honor. You just never asked for my word on anything."

Pietro sniffed at that, not answering as he and Jean-Paul glared at one another one more time before they ignored each other. Wanda just sighed in exasperation.

"We leave tomorrow?" she asked, trying to break the tension in the air.

"That would be a good idea," Jamie said. "I don't think this place was meant to hold more than four people. It's already pretty crowded, and nobody hit me or it's going to get even worse." Rahne snorted at that while Monet smirked at that.

"Northstar and I will leave now," Pietro said. "We both may have been missed in the capital." Jean-Paul nodded in agreement, placed his mug down and stood up. Bobby looked up at Jean-Paul when he stood up before looking over at Pietro then down at his own mug. Wanda frowned up at Pietro.

"Are you sure, Pietro?" she asked. "You two could at least stay for dinner."

"I would love to, but I don't want to chance it," Pietro replied. He suddenly disappeared and reappeared, already wearing his cloak and tossing the jacket Jean-Paul had been wearing at him. Jean-Paul blinked and took the jacket, handing it over to Bobby.

"Thank you," he said. Bobby just grinned and pushed the hand holding onto the jacket back.

"Keep it," he replied. "It's not like the cold bothers me." Jean-Paul just looked at him before he nodded to Bobby and pulled the jacket on. The two speedsters then walked towards the door.

"Take care," Ororo said, standing up to see them off. Bobby was up as well, waving a good-bye with a grin as Jean-Paul and Pietro nodded and left.

"Now, time to figure out the sleeping arrangements," Wanda said, getting up from her seat. "And will one of you help me prepare dinner? I'd rather not have Jean in my kitchen since the last time she tried to make breakfast, she set the eggs on fire."

--------------------

Dinner was like a huge family gathering that night. The tension melted away for the night and cheerful conversation filled the air. Bobby and Jamie cracked jokes to Wanda and Jean who laughed at them. Monet smiled a lot during the meal, even laughing at times which boggled Remy's mind as for the longest time, he had thought she was too uptight to do either. Rahne had noticed as well and voiced it to Monet, who promptly replied that she wasn't as uptight as Scott and Alex which led to Jamie and Bobby relating to the table of some of their best pranks on the two and sending Remy into stitches, nearly falling out of his chair as he laughed. Sleeping arrangements was also discussed over dinner. Jean and Wanda would share Wanda's room while Ororo and Monet would share Jean's room. Rahne had decided to go into her wolf form and sleep in the living room for Remy, Bobby and Jamie. After dinner, after Remy and Jean helped Wanda clean up, and the others had settled down in the living room, Bobby asked Ororo a question.

"Ma'am?"

"Please, call me Storm," Ororo said, sounding amused and slightly exasperated.

"Okay, ma'am--I mean, Storm! Um, I wanted to ask you, what's a secondary and what does it have to do with me?"

"Ah, yes, I was going to talk to you about that, wasn't I?" Ororo said. "Would you prefer that I talk to you about it in private or out here in the open?"

"Better out here," Bobby answered. "I don't want to be the one who shocks the rest of us with the news." Remy snorted at that while Wanda laughed softly. Ororo made a face at the two of them before she turned her attention back to Bobby and the others.

"First, do any of you know the Lightning God or the Goddess of the Night?" she asked, looking at them.

"Goddess o' the Night, aye, I know o' her," Rahne said, nodding. "She be the one who takes souls t' the afta'life since the Dark God don' care 'bout them."

"Then I'll use her as an example," Ororo said. "The Goddess of the Night is a secondary because she isn't one of the original four gods of Gaia. She is in fact the daughter of the Gray Lord."

"So she's basically the second generation of gods who follows her elder's orders, right?" Bobby asked.

"Not really," Ororo replied. "Yes, she is second generation, but she doesn't follow our orders. She is the Dark God's secondary though she doesn't really follow his orders," Ororo finished, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Truth be told, I don't think Death really cared and just let her do anything with the souls."

"Almost anything," Wanda said. "He drew the line when I tried to return a baby's soul back to its mother."

"Oh, yes, I forgot about that," Ororo said, shaking her head. "He was rather livid after that. I've never heard him swear like that before."

"Ye be the Night Goddess?" Rahne exclaimed, eyes wide as she stared at Wanda. Wanda actually blushed at that and nodded in response.

"You always were shy to your followers," Remy murmured, grinning as Wanda punched his arm and made a face at him.

"So how can I be your secondary?" Bobby asked. Ororo frowned at that.

"I'm not sure, to be honest," she replied. "Perhaps it's because you're human. Wanda and Pietro's father may have been the Gray Lord, but their mother was human. All I know is that your godhood has yet to manifest and right now, you can still die from a stray arrow." Monet, Bobby and Rahne all looked at Bobby who scratched the back of his head.

"Where are we going tomorrow?" Jamie asked. "Do you think we should go back to the Institute, since we don't know where the Master of the Flame is?"

"It's probably a good idea," Jean said with a yawn. She blinked a couple of time. "Excuse me, I guess I'm a bit tired."

"We should all turn in," Ororo said with a nod. Wanda, Jean, Ororo and Monet all got up to leave, Wana staying behind a bit to tell the other that there was more wood by the fireplace if it gets too cold in the living room. Nodding thanks to the goddess, Remy, Jamie and Bobby pulled out their sleeping bags and Rahne shifted into her wolf form, settling next to Jamie who petted her head. Remy laid there, watching the flickering light of the fire as he listened to the deep breathing of the three sleeping forms by him before he closed his eyes.

* * *

He was in the middle of nowhere. Well, it was more like he was standing on a gray floor with blackness surrounding him, but he could still see as though there was still light. 

"Remy?"

He turned at the name, looking around him before he focused on the redhead a few feet away from him. She was wearing a green dress with a gold sash around her waist. Remy glanced down, frowning at the strange clothing he himself was wearing.

_Is this armor?_ he wondered, poking at the metal that covered his stomach before looking over at the cloak he wore. _Why does this clothing seem familiar?_

"Jean?" he called out, walking over to her. "Where are we?"

"I... have no idea," she replied, looking around warily and fidgeting with the necklace. "This is kind of a first for me." They looked around for a moment before Jean looked at Remy and gasped.

"Remy! Your skin!"

"What?" Remy instantly looked down at his hands and saw they had change to black. He reached up to touch his face and then realized that his hair had changed from red to white. "What the hell?"

"Don't you recognize your old self, Death?" a woman called out. Jean and Remy quickly looked around them, seeing no one else with them.

"Who are you?" Jean called out, her dress and hair suddenly moving as though there was wind. Remy glanced at her before edging away a bit.

_If she turns into a bonfire..._

"I'm just an old woman," the woman replied. "An old woman who wants to help you two in your journey."

Spider-webs seem to creep into their surroundings and Remy realized that in his right hand, he now held a scythe. What bothered him was the fact that he didn't remember having it in the first place. Jean looked equally bothered by the blade in her hand as they watched cautiously at the webs forming around them. Before them a strange throne appeared and seated on it was an old woman with a blind-fold over her eyes.

"Now, now," she said, waving a hand at them. "I'm just an old, blind woman. It's not like I can hurt you."

"Who are you?" Jean asked again. The old woman leaned back into her throne.

"You may call me Madame Web," she replied. "I have come to aid you."

"Why?" Remy asked, hand gripping the scythe tightly. It felt oddly comforting to have the weapon in his hand and Remy mentally grimaced at the thought.

"To see if fate can be changed," Madame Web said softly. Remy and Jean exchanged looks before they looked back at the old woman.

"Please explain," Jean asked.

"Destiny has already spoken," Madame Web began. "A great battle will come, bringing with it more bloodshed than the Cleansing and the Fall combined. The two Phoenixes will fight and the Dark Phoenix will prevail. The Dark God will return to dust and the Shadow King will step up and take his throne and bring about an apocalypse. Gaia will die and her avatar as well."

"We're going to lose," Remy said quietly. He gripped his scythe tighter at the thought. "That cannot happen."

"Are you willing to help change the fate of everyone?" Madame Web asked.

"Yes," Remy and Jean said together. The blind seer smiled.

"Then I will tell you this: the Phoenix Queen must be made whole again," she said. "Because She is life itself, She cannot be destroyed." Madame Web paused then turned her head to face Remy.

"You hold the key to Her reunion," she said, pointing at him. Jean turned to look at Remy who said nothing. "The Speaker's ruby necklace contains the Dark Phoenix."

"And then what?" Remy asked.

"You will know what to do next," she said with a smile.

"Cryptic much?" Remy muttered sourly. Jean gave an unlady-like snort in response.

"Go to Trakia. Your Fire Lord is there," Madame Web finished. Remy and Jean looked up to watch both Madame Web and her throne slip into the shadows, the spider-webs around them beginning to melt away.

"Wait!" Remy shouted, realizing one last thing. "What about the Dark God? What does he have to do with anything?"

There was no answer.

* * *

Remy sat up with a gasp. Dawn was about to break and glancing back at the fireplace, he noted that someone had added some more wood during the night. Looking at the others, he saw that Rahne was blinking sleepily at him from her spot and Jamie had more or less curled up around her. 

"Go back to sleep," he mouthed to her and Rahne yawned before settling back down and closing her eyes. Remy settled back down as well, only to stare at the fire once again. Thinking back to the conversation in his dream, he wondered once again what the Dark God had to do with anything and why he suddenly had the urge to go to Trakia.

_It can't be for the Master of the Flame either_, Remy grumbled mentally. _He's 'Ro's secondary and, damn it, why do I want to go there_

_/ You should try and get some sleep as well, Remy. /_ Jean said in his mind. She sounded just as awake as Remy and he smiled faintly.

_Don't think I can. _

_/ Neither can I. /_ Jean replied after a moment. _/ How are you suppose to reunite the two Phoenixes into one? If this Madame Webb says that I will lose to Madelyne, that would make her a very powerful sorceress. / _

_That's assuming she still has her ruby necklace_, Remy replied. He rubbed his eyes as he thought about it. _It's going to be hell getting into the palace itself, and if she wears that necklace all the time like you do. _

_/ The Phoenix may be accenting her powers. /_ Jean mused. _/ It makes sense since mine does that as well. /_ Remy grumbled quietly to himself at that. He noticed Rahne's ears twitch before it settled once again.

_I'll need to pick up something special at Trakia_, Remy thought. _Would be easier to get into the palace then._

_ / You're coming/_ Jean asked, sounding surprised. Remy blinked at that.

_Of course I'm coming_, Remy replied. _I want to know who this Master of the Flame is. That, and... well, I think I_ **have** _to be there. _

**Have**_to be? The Dark God dictating your actions again/ _

_Of course._ He was looking out the window now, watching the sun rise over the mountain. The curtains kept most of the light out but some still trickled in, blinding Remy. He sighed to himself before he pulled away the covers and got up, pulling on socks and boots before stepping over the other sleeping people and out to the bathroom.

_Still awake, Jean?_ he asked as he went through his morning ritual.

_/ Unfortunately. / _

_Want to help me make pancakes?_

_/ Why not, although I should warn you that I seem to have a habit of setting things on fire when I'm near the stove, water included. /_ Remy couldn't help it and laughed at that as he stepped out of the bathroom and towards the kitchen, his mood already better than before.

--------------------

The pancakes had come out perfectly alright when people began to wake up. Remy made sure that Jean didn't set anything on fire and Jean herself looked rather proud when the pancakes came out relatively unharmed. There **was** one moment though when Jean had flipped the pancake a little too hard, sticking it to the ceiling and making Remy lean against the wall, laughing himself sick.

"Oh, shut up," Jean muttered as she glared at the pancake stuck on the ceiling. The others had woken up by the time Remy and Jean were done cooking. Wanda had come in to see why Remy was laughing, joining in when she saw the pancake much to Jean's embarrassment, and started heating up some water for tea. Jamie, Bobby and Rahne, who had shifted back to her human form, came in later, already at the table, and sleepy eyes brightening at the sight of breakfast.

"That looks good," Jamie said happily.

"Let's hope it tastes good," Wanda said cheerfully in response as she and Remy brought out some mugs of tea. Jean brought out the maple syrup and butter, shooting a dirty look at Wanda.

"It will," Remy said. "No one should get food poisoning since I made the batter."

"That's not making me feel any better," Bobby said in a teasing tone. Remy flicked the back of Bobby's head in response as Wanda laughed. Rahne and Jamie both snickered as they helped themselves to the pancakes, Bobby following suit. As Wanda, Jean and Remy sat down, Ororo and Monet both finally made their appearance, the former looking wide awake while the latter yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Good morning, 'Ro, Monet," Remy said cheerfully as Ororo sat down next to him. Monet took a seat next to Bobby and sleepily thanked Wanda as the goddess handed her a mug of tea.

"My, this looks good," Ororo commented as she looked at the pancakes.

"It is good," Rahne mumbled. "No food poisonin' yet, thankfully." Remy gave Rahne a dirty look while Bobby and Jamie snickered. Ororo just looked amused as she helped herself to the pancakes. There wasn't any talking for a few moments before Jean broke the silence.

"Remy and I met a most unusual person last night."

"Oh?" Ororo said, glancing at Remy before she looked at Jean. "Who did you meet?"

"Someone who calls herself Madame Web." Jean hesitated for a moment. "We may have a problem." Wanda and Ororo exchanged a look as Jean and Remy related to the table of their conversation with Madame Web. Monet, who had finally woken up a little more, frowned at her pancakes as did Bobby, both with a serious expression on their faces. Rahne and Jamie gave each other a nervous look before Jamie put his elbows on the table and folded his hands before his mouth, a worried look cancelling out the nervous expression he had before.

"This isn't good," he said quietly. "We have to go back and tell the Professor."

"Of course," Jean said. "We have to stop by Trakia first though."

"Trakia?" Ororo asked, looking at the redhead. "Why?" "Madame Web said the Master of the Flame would be there," Remy said, "and, well, _he's_ got something to do there too." He pointed to his head and Ororo frowned. "Trakia it is, then," Jamie said. He then paused, looking down at his pancakes before back up at the rest. "Could we finish eating first though? These pancakes are really good."

* * *

"So what about your house?" Bobby asked as they began to make their way towards Kafylvik. "I mean, you're going to be with us, how do you know it's going to be there when you come back." Wanda and Jean had cleaned up and put everything away, tidying up the place before they all dressed warmly, with the exception of Bobby, and were out the door an hour after breakfast. Wanda smiled at him. 

"Was it ever there to begin with?" she asked. Everybody except Ororo turned and jaws fell opened at the sight of just snow and the sky.

"Where...? But...? How...?" Jamie started, pointing at the spot where the house was, looking at Wanda before back at the spot. Wanda just continued to smile before she and Ororo turned and walked away, Remy and Jean trailing after the two feeling rather stunned. He could hear the other four starting after them and a muttered "Holy hell" from Jamie.

_Holy hell indeed_, Remy thought, shivering slightly at a gust of cold wind. _I wonder what I've gotten myself into. _

_/ Saving the world. /_ Jean replied. _/ And I would have thought you'd know this little trick of hers. / _

_I don't_, Remy replied, _but that's surprises are good for you. _

_/ The good ones or the bad ones. / _

_The good ones, usually, and I've got a feeling that we're going to get a good surprise in Trakia._

_-  
-  
_

_A follower of the Dark can still become a follower of the Light if that person still holds love in their heart and soul._

- The Book of Rain

* * *

Thank you so much for waiting. I'm just really, really sorry for the lame ending of this chapter (I'll probably fix it later, but don't hold your breath on that.) The good parts coming, I swear! I'll even give you guys a teaser! 

-  
-

"Bobby! Jean! Wanda!" They turned to see Jamie and Jubilee rushing towards them, a relieved look on their faces. "Thank the gods we found you, we have to get out of here right now!"

"What? Why?" Jean asked in confusion.

"Remy went Dark God on us and is currently massacring every vampire he can find," Jamie reported.

"Not every vampire," Jubilee said. "You forget about those City Watch guys?"

"Oh yeah. Let me rephrase that then: Remy went Dark God on us and is currently massacring _everyone_ he can find," Jamie said.

"Uh-oh," Wanda said, eyes wide. "They're right, we have to get out of here."

"What?" Bobby said this time. "Um, he would at least recognize us, right?"

"Uh…"

"I don't think I like that response."


End file.
